COVID-19, four years later
by Pinedale Online!
December 12, 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, some say even late 2019. Over the past four years, the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) reports there were 192,978 lab confirmed and probable cases of the virus in Wyoming. With a population of about 578,800, which means approximately one third of the state caught the virus over the course of the pandemic. WDH reported a total of 2,081 deaths attributed to the virus from 2020-2023. That is a death rate of .3% over the entire state population, and 1% of those who caught the virus. In 2023, there have been 9,860 lab-confirmed and probable cases in the state and 105 deaths, also at 1% death rate for infected persons. The death numbers are certainly solid, but the case rate numbers are undoubtedly low, due to an unknown percentage of people who became sick once (or twice) during the pandemic who never tested or reported to their local health officials.
Sublette County reported 2,434 lab-confirmed and probable cases and 28 deaths over the four years of the pandemic, mirroring the 1% statewide death rate. In 2023, there have been 133 lab-confirmed and probable cases and 0 deaths in Sublette County.
No one age 18 or under has reportedly died due to COVID-19 in Wyoming over the entire course of the pandemic, according to WDH. The majority of deaths were in the elderly and those with health conditions known to put them more at risk of serious illness. Deaths were recorded by the person’s state of residence. People whose residence was listed as Wyoming, but died while living in another state for some reason, were still recorded as Wyoming COVID-19 deaths. Over 80% of the deaths were in people age 60 and older. The age group of 70+ had more than 60% of the deaths. The age group of 19-29 year olds had less than 1% of the overall deaths. 30-49 year olds were less than 5% of the deaths.
In Wyoming, there were three peaks in cases for the pandemic: Late fall 2020 (October-December), early fall 2021 (August-October), and winter 2022 (January-February). The winter 2022 case spike was about twice as large as the two previous spikes in the state. WDH attributes these three waves mostly to different versions of the virus: first - alpha, 2nd- delta, and 3rd - omicron. Vaccines for the virus became available to the public in December of 2020. The two biggest spikes in deaths happened in November/December 2020 and September/October 2021.
Breakthrough cases are people who are considered fully vaccinated and boosted who still contracted the virus. In late October, 2021, Teton County Public Health reported that breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among fully-vaccinated people accounted for 53% of all reported positive cases in the last two weeks of August, 2021 in their county. Over half their new positive cases were among fully-vaccinated individuals. Moving into 2022, on March 22nd, WDH reported the state had 26,359 breakthrough cases, an increase of over 1900 cases among vaccinated persons in a month. A week later on March 29th, 2022, WDH updated their data to show the state had 27,357 breakthrough cases. That was an increase of 2,934 breakthrough cases in a month, and 998 more in a week. By mid-2021, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) began walking back their claims that vaccinated people could not spread the virus and the vaccines were 90% effective at preventing infection.
WDH stopped reporting breakthrough cases in Wyoming by the end of 2022 and instead referred readers to the CDC website on the topic. This means we no longer have real breakthrough case data to report for 2023 in Wyoming counties. The CDC stopped tracking breakthrough cases in May of 2021. The CDC says on their website that CDC studies published from April 2023–August 2023 on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness indicates 24-76% effectiveness in adults over time from date of their shot; 31% effectiveness in nursing home residents. For comparison, according to the CDC, polio and MMR vaccines are 90-97% effective. Flu vaccines are reportedly 40-60% effective. We could not find actual statistics for the number of people, vaccinated or unvaccinated, who have contracted COVID-19 multiple times, although there are news stories of people having had it as many as 5 to 6 times. President Biden, who arguably has some of the best health care on the planet, caught it twice. His wife, Jill, also has had it twice. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon got it twice. All despite being fully vaccinated.
As we near the end of 2023, Wyoming has recorded 9,860 lab-confirmed and probable cases and 105 deaths attributed to the virus this year. Sublette County has reported 1,682 lab-confirmed and probable cases in 2023. As of the writing of this article (December 12, 2023), WDH reports that Sublette County currently has zero active COVID-19 cases, as well as zero probable or lab-confirmed cases in the past seven days; and 0 deaths in all of 2023.
According to the CDC, 81.4% of the US population was considered vaccinated as of May 2023. In Wyoming, 61% of the state has received at least one vaccine dose. Overall, 53% of Wyoming's population is considered fully vaccinated. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the COVID-19 public health emergency officially over as of May 11, 2023.
According to the Wyoming Department of Health, the top five causes of death in Wyoming for 2022, listed in order, were:
1. Heart diseases
2. Cancers
3. Various types of accidents and adverse effects
4. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related conditions
5. COVID-19
COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death in both 2020 and 2021 in Wyoming.
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