It's not really the same thing.

"Normal" streamers are watched for a variety of reasons: maybe their personality is entertaining and charismatic, maybe they're really good at the game(s) they play (speedrunners in particular fall into this camp), and so on. There will always be viewers watching purely for parasocial reasons, but it's usually not the primary reason to watch them.

With vtubers, though, the parasocial element is essentially the full extent of the appeal. They're not very charismatic (vtuber humor is infamous for consisting mostly of loud childish noises and sex jokes), they're usually not very good at games and rarely dedicate themselves to one game or one genre. They are watched because the viewers are lonely and want to feel like they have a (girl)friend, that's about it.