A new COVID-19 booster shot is coming out this fall and is likely to be unpopular with most Wyomingites, even as the approach of cooler weather signals the onset of cold and flu season.
Health policy research firm KFF released the results of a survey last week showing that 59% of Americans will "definitely not” or “probably not” get the updated COVID-19 booster shot.
These results largely fall along political party lines, with Republicans being far less likely to receive the jab than Democrats.
The survey also examines Americans’ trust in public health messaging.
It specifically cites Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as having created substantial changes in the federal government’s guidance on vaccine policy.
Remember The Iron Lung
Teton County coroner and family physician Brent Blue told Cowboy State Daily that he expects COVID-19 vaccination rates to remain relatively low in Wyoming this fall.
“I think the immunization rates in Wyoming will be relatively low,” he said. “I think Wyoming folks, for the most part, tend be sort of Libertarian and don't want the government telling them what to do, and if the government recommends it, they’re not going to do it.”
Americans tend to have a “very short memory” when it comes to widespread medical issues, Blue said, adding that he used to display an iron lung respirator outside his office as a warning to patients who refused the polio vaccine.
“One of the reasons they don’t worry about polio is because almost everyone in this country is vaccinated against polio,” Blue said.
Blue, who said he elects to receive both the COVID-19 and flu shot every fall, predicted that low COVID-19 vaccination rates won’t have a major impact on the state’s public health unless a new “really bad strain” of the virus were to emerge.
He said his primary concern remains a resurgence of measles cases in younger unvaccinated patients.
“When you see a kid that is coughing their brains out for two weeks because they didn’t get a pertussis vaccine, it’s really sad to see that kind of thing,” Blue said.
Freedom To Decide
Wyoming state Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, co-sponsored House Bill 141 during this past legislative session, which declared Wyoming’s independence from COVID-19 mandates issued by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The measure would have made it so these entities would have no jurisdiction to declare masking or vaccination requirements in Wyoming.
While the bill was not considered for introduction in the House, Kelly told Cowboy State Daily he believes in his constituents’ right to decide whether or not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I believe in the autonomy of human beings,” he said. “If people feel safer and they believe that they’ve survived this long and their lives have been better because of the COVID vaccines, those should be available for people who would like to get them.
“I generally don’t think they’re a good idea for folks that are healthy and have already been exposed to some form of the virus in the past anyway. But I’m not one for shutting them all down either.”
Kelly said he is wary of the rapid progress made in producing COVID-19 vaccines because of the lack of information on potential long-term effects of immunization.
He suggested that requiring COVID-19 vaccines could prove a reckless decision in the future.
“There were people whose jobs were threatened to get this shot with unknown long-term consequences or lose your ability to feed your family,” he said.
COVID Isn’t Polio
The state legislator also predicted Wyomingites will be slow to get the latest booster this fall.
Reacting to Blue’s polio comparison, Kelly said the argument doesn’t hold up because of major differences in the construction of each illness.
“Polio doesn’t appear to mutate so quickly and efficiently like the COVID virus does,” he said. “They’re not comparable, they’re like apples and oranges.
“You don’t need polio boosters all the time, it's a long-term vaccine, the comparison doesn't make sense to me.”
State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Park County, who chairs the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, echoed this sentiment in an email statement to Cowboy State Daily.
"When discussing vaccines, the most important thing to ask is whether the individual has informed consent about what they're injecting into their body,” she wrote. “I'm grateful to Secretary Kennedy for finally standing up for the principle of informed consent.
“If more people knew what's in the COVID-19 shot, perhaps fewer people would take it — that should tell us more about the regulatory agencies that rushed its approval than it should the people who are taking their health seriously.”
State Guidance
Whether Wyoming residents elect to get the new COVID booster, the WDH will be ready for everyone, said Dr. Alexia Harrist, the state health officer.
“We can’t predict what vaccine uptake will look like, but WDH encourages all Wyoming residents to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine with their health care provider as we approach respiratory virus season,” she told Cowboy State Daily via email. “COVID-19 vaccines are widely available at clinics, pharmacies and some local health departments.”
She also said the WDH encourages vaccination.
“COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 infection,” she said. “They reduce the risk of being hospitalized, of needing to go to the emergency department or urgent care, and of developing long-lasting symptoms known as long COVID.”
Harrist also said there’s a difference between someone being “anti-vax” as opposed to choosing not to get a particular vaccine.
“It is important to note that just because someone chooses not to get a certain vaccine, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily anti-vaccine,” she said. “Most people in Wyoming choose to vaccinate themselves and their families, for example, against measles and pertussis.
“While we see that rates of COVID vaccination are lower than for other vaccines, health care providers remain the most trusted source for information about vaccines.”
WDH’s most recent data on its Respiratory Disease Dashboard shows that Wyoming had 26 cases of COVID-19 infection for the week of July 20, 2025. That same week saw a single case of the flu.
