Wyoming health department officials say an older woman is hospitalized with bird flu.

– A Wyoming Department of Health official involved in the state's response to the coronavirus questioned the legitimacy of the pandemic and described a forthcoming vaccine as a biological weapon at a recent event. Shepherd was introduced as and talked about being a Wyoming Department of Health employee in the over hour-long presentation in Loveland, Colorado. Shepherd's baseless and unsubstantiated claims undermined Wyoming's public health measures — and public exhortations — to limit spread of the virus, as well as its plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in the months ahead. He has worked for the health department since 2013 and has been a part of the state’s team responding to COVID-19, though not in a leadership role, department spokeswoman Kim Deti said. Researchers have worried for months that politicized skepticism of COVID-19 vaccines could hurt their efficacy.