This is a commonly repeated trope that is 100% false. In the beginning of COVID pandemic, both Germany (one of the biggest and "slowest" EU country) and US pas

This is a commonly repeated trope that is 100% false. In the beginning of COVID pandemic, both Germany (one of the biggest and "slowest" EU country) and US passed very comprehensive laws to counter the pandemic crash. There was very strong bipartisan support, because (1) something needed to be done, and (2) the solution seemed quite obvious. Since then, there has been disagreement about both whether anything needs to be done, and about what exactly that is; hence, nothing has happened. In contrast to common fear-mongering, this is democracy working as it should - broadly agreed-upon things happen quickly, contentious things happen slowly or not at all.