CASPER, Wyo. — 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.
The “so-called pandemic” and efforts to develop a vaccine are plots by Russia and China to spread communism worldwide, department readiness and countermeasures manager Igor Shepherd said at the Nov. 10 event held by the group Keep Colorado Free and Open.
Shepherd was introduced as and talked about being a Wyoming Department of Health employee in the hour-plus presentation in Loveland, Colorado.
Shepherd’s baseless and unsubstantiated claims undermined Wyoming’s public health measures — and public exhortations — to limit the spread of the virus, as well as its plans to distribute Covid-19 vaccines in the months ahead.
Even so, Wyoming officials including Gov. Mark Gordon, who at a recent news conference called people not taking the virus seriously “knuckleheads,” declined to comment.
Department Director Mike Ceballos and State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist did not answer questions Friday, including when they became aware of Shepherd’s talk and what if anything they have done in response.
Phone and social media messages left for Shepherd on Friday weren’t returned.
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