Americans' Ratings of CDC Communication Turn Negative

More Americans now disagree (41%) than agree (32%) that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has communicated a clear plan of action in response to the COVID-19 situation. This is the first Gallup reading since the CDC in late July changed its guidance on the need for face masks for unvaccinated people in areas of high coronavirus transmission.

The public's opinions about CDC communication have varied throughout the pandemic. They have been more critical than positive at other times besides now. These include September 2020, when there was concern about premature approval of COVID-19 vaccines, and January 2021, when infections and deaths peaked and the federal government struggled with the initial vaccine rollout.

Since March, Americans had tended to be more inclined to agree than disagree that the CDC was communicating a clear plan.

The latest results are from Aug. 16-22 interviewing in Gallup's COVID-19 tracking survey. More than 3,500 U.S. adults who are members of Gallup's nationally representative panel were interviewed by web for the survey.