At this point we've been through enough front end churn, React is fine. Components, static typing, a javascript/html based templating language. Server and client side rendering. With Next.js my DX is better than anything I've used before.
Vanilla JS? Yea, no thanks. I'm not going back to square one, choose your own adventure custom framework because of your skill issue.
Isn't it the other way around? Those who have skill issues select React?
It's possible to write a whole load of very clever things in vanilla JS, but it's not always a good use of time to do so, and it is not a very easy way to develop things in large teams, without building up an abstraction layer with getters and setters that is not appreciably better than a minimal reactive framework.
The one-way data flow in reactive frameworks is the bit worth fighting for (and fighting over).
Though to be fair, rather than using Vanilla JS alone I did recently write my own React-looking but not React-like view engine: https://worldmaker.net/butterfloat/#/
But I'm looking at tiny web interfaces for microcontrollers at the moment, and as an experienced Vue developer I find petite-vue and a classless CSS framework an appealing compromise for designs without a build step.
With a build step, maybe preact?