President Biden’s plea for governors to reinstate mask mandates is falling on deaf ears in Wyoming and many other parts of the country.
Gov Mark Gordon on Tuesday said he has no plans to issue another statewide mask mandate despite the president’s request.
“Given Wyoming’s current metrics, the Governor has no plans to reinstate statewide mask protocols,” Gordon spokesperson Michael Pearlman told the Casper Star Tribune.
The state’s prior mask mandate — which lasted over three months — was rescinded on March 16.
At that time, Gordon said the decision to end the requirement was because of the state’s vaccination efforts as well as falling active Covid cases and decreasing hospitalizations.
Other Republican governors ignored the president’s request as well.
Following the president’s request, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison responded by dropping the state’s mask mandate a day earlier.
Wyoming’s State Health Department told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that the state is close to having enough vaccines where any resident in the state can get one.
At least 18 of Wyoming’s 23 counties are now vaccinating any member of the general public age 18 or older and “it will be very soon” when the entire state can offer the same.
As of Sunday, Wyoming had received 167,630 first vaccine doses (84,630 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 83,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine) and 138,704 first doses have been administered.
The state has received 118,805 second vaccine doses (58,305 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 60,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine) and 92,108 second doses of the vaccines have been administered.
Finally, Wyoming has received 8,400 of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and 4,657 doses have been administered, according to Health Department figures.
In total, 96,765 Wyoming residents are completely vaccinated against the virus, around 15% of the state, the department said.
