Here's what I think happened. Due to the travel restrictions caused by covid, a solid number of weddings were put on hold all of 2020. In the begging of 2021, borders begun to open and in the summer of 2021, most of them weddings happened. It's that group that got their DQ's from around Aug - Sept 2022. So whereas at the beginning of 2023, 25 interview letters would cover 2 months of DQs, now 60 IL's barely do a month of DQs. It's the numbers. We will get there somehow.
As for my son's bday and that of mine, looks like another year of forlorn hope. We are June babies.