The rates were dropped primarily because of the pandemic and the massive unemployment and potential recession that followed. Stimulus checks to keep people afloat while they didn't have jobs to go to was fine. And they basically avoided a recession by dropping the rates combined with the stimulus (and extended unemployment benefit) packages.
The stops and starts and multiple Covid waves during the recovery made the Feds ability to read or react in proactive way where it concerns inflation limited. And understandable. I don't even criticize them harshly for not acting sooner. I think it was just really hard to do so given the pandemic circumstances.
My point was only that, by September of last year inflationary indicators were clear enough, and the recovery of spending/ economy/ employment was clear enough, that they could have initiated some 1/4 point adjustments. They didn't, they delayed... and now we'll suffer the consequences of a few 50 basis point adjustments.