Why, Why, Why, Wyoming?

After a year of COVID, my wife may think that when I open my mouth the only thing that comes out is “COVID this, COVID that.” She’s probably equally tired of hearing my impromptu political commentaries, riveting though they must be, while stuck in LA traffic. So, what better way to enact revenge than to drag her citified, blue-blooded husband to Wyoming, the reddest of red states?

This was our first family vacation since last year’s Oregon smoke fest. On this trip, we spent six nights in Jackson Hole for my wife’s animal photography escape. Admittedly, six nights were not enough time to turn this Jewish doctor into a certified cowhand, although there was no shortage of Pendleton-shirted, Stetson-hatted “faux-boys” trying to help me make the transition. Jackson is to the Old West what Solvang is to Denmark. Or, you could think of it the place where all the characters from the Disney Country Bear Jamboree end up when they have a day off.

Nevertheless, it’s a pleasant spot. There’s a congeniality and a friendliness on the streets that one rarely finds in L.A. And if I were a pedestrian moving a bit too slowly through an intersection, I’d feel safer in front of a Jackson pick-up with a gun rack than in front of an L.A. Lexus with a Biden sticker on one bumper and “Save the Whales” on the other.

Wyoming was the “Trumpiest” state in the 2020 election, going almost 70% for the former President. But while Jackson certainly feels a bit “Trumpy” to me, it’s actually the tiny heart of “Blue Wyoming.” Teton County, home to Jackson, was one of only two of 23 counties that went for Biden and by more than 2:1. Wyoming license plates identify each car’s home county by number. Cars with the Teton County “22” reportedly get sneers elsewhere in the state. “The best thing about Jackson,” they say, is that “it’s only an hour from Wyoming.” And Trump’s best county in his best state?  Why, Crook County of course.  As Casey Stengel used to say, you could look it up.

Even with all of the distractions of Wyoming, after a year of dealing with my patients’ COVID-19 struggles it did not take long for my thoughts to return to the pandemic. I didn’t have much local company in that impulse. The whole state seems to have moved on. Although government buildings and occasional businesses require masks, few people wear them when not compelled. There aren’t a lot of COVID deaths in Wyoming, but that’s mostly because there aren’t many people. The state’s population, at less than 600,000, is the smallest of the fifty states.

But while we were in Jackson, the risk of catching COVID was about four times greater than the risk in California, though it has since improved slightly. Although vaccines are now readily available, Wyoming residents aren’t jumping for them. Only 31% of the state has been vaccinated, which is the sixth lowest vaccination rate in the country. The combination of vaccine avoidance and resistance to wearing masks guarantees that COVID infections will extend into the future like a dramatic Wyoming vista.

Only 31% of the state has been vaccinated, which is the sixth lowest vaccination rate in the country.

Why are so many Wyoming residents reluctant to take the simple steps necessary to protect themselves, their families and their neighbors? A communication specialist who worked on COVID health measures for the city cited political polarization as an important part of the problem. Indeed, Trump bastion Crook County has the state’s second worst vaccination rate, at an abysmal 17.6%. The two Biden counties have the highest vaccination rates by far.

Still, I find Wyoming’s indifference to COVID-19 baffling. Regardless of one’s political affiliation, illness and death affect us all. As one who grew up in United States of the late 50s and 60s, I identify with an American ethic in which people “ask not what their country can do for them” and believe that harnessing our collective talents and resources allows us to overcome life’s obstacles.

Cliché though it may be, the country that could travel to the moon should be able to defeat a virus. Ignoring COVID-19 and the health initiatives to combat it seems defeatist and unworthy of the frontier spirit that Wyoming purports to represent. Whether it’s climate science or COVID-19, the state is ground zero for those that prefer to deny unpleasant truths when recognizing them would require unwanted changes in behavior.

Ignoring COVID-19 and the health initiatives to combat it seems defeatist and unworthy of the frontier spirit that Wyoming purports to represent.

Wyoming offers much to the visitor when it comes to stunning landscapes and friendly people. Unfortunately, in addition to the scenic lakes and mountains, this visitor also found a willful ignorance that offers the COVID-19 virus an undeserved ally. That ignorance may prove as hard to eradicate as the virus itself.

Daniel Stone is Regional Medical Director of Cedars-Sinai Valley Network and a practicing internist and geriatrician with Cedars Sinai Medical Group. The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of Cedars-Sinai.