A Project of the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming
COVID-19 in Wyoming
COVID-19 in Wyoming
A Project of the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming
Tracking cases, attitudes, and behaviors in Wyoming during the global coronavirus pandemic.
This publication was last updated in December 2020.
Since March 2020, the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming has been tracking attitudes and behaviors of Wyoming residents using the WyoSpeaks panel survey. To provide a clear picture of the current state of COVID-19 in Wyoming, WYSAC has prepared this online tool to track CDC and Wyoming Department of Health data as well as WYSAC survey data. Read more about this project.
Interested in vaccination rates in Wyoming? WYSAC is working to provide daily trends in COVID-19 vaccine data. In the meantime, you can get daily vaccine distribution and administration data from the Wyoming Department of Health. Read more.
The Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center conducted a series of surveys using our WyoSpeaks panel to determine how COVID-19 has impacted people in Wyoming.
Key Findings
Updated: December 16, 2020
Just over three-quarters (76 percent) of Wyomingites now say they wear masks always or often when visiting indoor public places, an increase from 69 percent in early November and 61 percent in early October. Only 6 percent of Wyoming residents now report that they never wear masks when visiting indoor public places, while 9 percent say they rarely wear masks in this situation.
Support for an ordinance that requires those in their communities to wear masks when visiting indoor public places was at 63 percent when the survey was fielded on Monday, similar to the 62 percent support measured in November. While this represents the state as a whole, it’s important to remember that differences in public opinion can exist from community to community.
Sixty-two percent of Wyomingites say they are very or somewhat likely to get the vaccine for COVID-19 when it becomes available, while 38 percent say they are very or somewhat unlikely to get the vaccine.
Of those who say they are unlikely to get the vaccine, almost three-quarters (72 percent) name concerns about side-effects as a major reason. Roughly half (49 percent) say they do not think they need it, while 59 percent want to know more about how well it works. About one in five of those who are unlikely to get the vaccine cite cost as a major reason.
Confidence in the U.S. and Wyoming health care systems to handle the response to COVID-19 has dropped significantly since November. When considering the U.S. health care system, 42 percent of Wyomingites say they have confidence it can handle the response — a decrease of 9 percentage points since November. When considering the Wyoming health care system, 40 percent of residents say they have confidence — a decrease of 9 percentage points since November.
Explore Survey Topics
Use the navigation below to explore our survey findings.
The survey was conducted among a randomly selected sample of Wyoming residents who are members of the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center’s (WYSAC) WyoSpeaks panel of Wyoming citizens. The survey was conducted online for 24 hours, with the first email invitations sent to the selected respondents at 7:00 AM. The survey instrument contains questions developed internally, as well as questions included in the Great Lakes Poll, fielded by Baldwin Wallace University.
The survey implemented a quota for age, with the quota sizes based on data from the 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. The quota approach was used to maximize the representativeness of the initial survey responses so that less data weighting was required after data collection closed. The survey results are weighted by gender, age, and respondents’ county.This project is funded internally by WYSAC.
The mission of WyoSpeaks is to give voice to Wyoming citizens on important issues facing our state and make public policy more responsive to the opinions of our citizens. WYSAC’s WyoSpeaks survey panel uses probability-based sampling methods to monitor the perspectives of Wyoming citizens through online surveys. WyoSpeaks surveys allow researchers to draw statistically valid inferences about the state as a whole.
Over the course of a year, the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center conducts a number of state-wide telephone surveys where all Wyoming residents have an equal probability of selection. During these surveys, respondents are given the opportunity to join the WyoSpeaks panel of Wyoming citizens. The only way to be added to the WyoSpeaks panel is through this random selection process.
Learn More
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