I don't think even an outbreak will necessarily bust people out of their shells. What is going on now is a propaganda apparatus like we have never seen. You mentioned reading through stuff during the mid-00s... and that brought back a memory I had of that time as well, but it more related to religion than medicine (but the topic related). A lot of Islamophobic people (and I am highly convinced that a lot of the people who wrote online about that stuff on line were happily huffing on their own farts) that while the 'rational' West does have its share of kooks and fools, they are a tiny minority, while the Islamic world has those people in charge (they don't... as a general rule anyway).
The one thing I wish I could go back and say is that it is actually irrelevant if the number of stupid people is tiny or not. What really matters is their proximity to power. I should point out a video by knowing better that showed how even the smallest religious minority influencing policy can have ruinous consequences for generations. In that video towards the 2 hour mark, you'll see that one of the biggest reasons why the US didn't enact universal healthcare when many developed countries were doing so is because of the influence of one person belonging to a Christian denomination that didn't believe in going to the doctor's office.
In today's world you're also seeing the same shit happening. RFK Jr. is certifiably insane. His beliefs are extreme beyond extremes, but he is the one who is fully in charge of US healthcare, and we are already going to see millions of people die as a result of his actions and who knows if it will be undone.
Another example is one that happened during Covid-19. South Korea had its lockdowns go well and the pandemic was about to be fully contained... but a small Christian sect in the country refused to abide by any of the regulations... and they were responsible behind most of the outbreak (I need to get the source on that), and I think they might be the ones who mourned Charlie Kirk after he got shot (Also I need to research it).