Bill Maher has expressed frustration with lockdowns throughout the pandemic. That he holds the view you mention does not seem surprising or remarkable to me.
(He also seems like an unusual choice to bring in as an authority on this topic. He is primarily a comedian.)
We first embraced hard lockdowns. No cost was high enough if we could contain covid if only just a little bit. Then we turned to vaccines as a miraculous path back to a life resembling normal. As the vaccine performance falters (*), I'm uncomfortably curious to see which way the world will go.
(*) According to FDA/CDC and Israel, which are promoting the 3rd boosting shot in less than a year and anticipating the 4th.