Majority Of Americans Find CDC’s Changing Covid Guidance ‘Confusing,’ Poll Finds Amid New Mask Questions

Topline

A majority of Americans believe changes to public health guidance on curbing Covid-19 transmission have been confusing, a new Pew Research poll finds, as the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has repeatedly come under scrutiny for its public health messaging and now butts heads with states over whether to drop mask mandates.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) … [+] testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on July 20, 2021 in Washington, DC.

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Key Facts

Some 60% of U.S. adults polled said changes in public health recommendations on how to slow Covid-19 transmission have “made me feel confused”—as compared with 53% who said the same in August—according to Pew, which conducted the survey January 24-30 among 10,237 respondents.

That sentiment was shared by respondents of both parties: 69% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats said they find the guidance confusing, along with 58% of vaccinated and 66% of unvaccinated respondents.

A 56% majority nevertheless believe the changes “made sense” given regular updates to scientific evidence, though only 41% said the shifting guidance makes them feel “reassured” officials are “staying on top of new information.”

Majorities also hold more negative views of the guidance changes: 57% said the shifting guidance makes them feel like officials are “holding back” information, while 56% said they leave them “less confident” in the recommendations.

Those opinions broke more along partisan lines: 72% of Democrats saw the logic behind the guidance changes versus 36% of Republicans, while Republicans were more than 30 percentage points more likely than Democrats to view the changes negatively.

Big Number

50%. That’s the share of respondents who say public health officials like those at the CDC are doing an “excellent” or “good job” on Covid-19, down from 60% in August and 79% in March 2020. Democrats are far more likely to approve of public health officials than Republicans, with 69% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans backing them. Local hospitals had the highest approval rating for their handling of Covid-19,with 81% of respondents saying they’re doing an excellent or good job. Local elected officials came in at 50% approval, state officials at 46% approval and President Joe Biden at 40%.

Chief Critic

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has acknowledged the confusion that Americans have faced in navigating the agency’s changing guidance, saying in January on Fox News Sunday it’s “hard” to make recommendations given the pandemic’s constant shifts. “We have ever-evolving science with an ever-evolving variant, and my job is to provide updated guidance in the context of rapidly rising cases,” Walensky said.

Key Background

The CDC has come under increasing scrutiny about its public health guidance as vaccinations changed Americans’ risk calculus and the highly transmissible omicron variant surged in December and January. The agency was criticized over the summer for backtracking after it declared vaccinated Americans no longer had to wear masks, saying everyone should wear them where transmission was high amid a surge of cases fueled by the spread of the delta variant. The CDC has also faced questions over what it defines as “fully vaccinated” now that booster shots have rolled out and are shown to substantially increase effectiveness against the omicron variant, and particularly over its decision to change its isolation guidance for those who test positive for Covid-19. The agency changed its recommendations in December to say those with mild or asymptomatic infections can now stop isolating five days after they test positive—but not if they still test positive with a rapid antigen test—which the American Medical Association criticized as being “confusing” and “counterproductive.”

What To Watch For

The CDC is now facing new scrutiny over its continued recommendation that Americans should wear masks indoors and in schools as a growing number of governors drop their states’ mask requirements amid a decline in new Covid-19 cases. Walensky has stood by the agency’s recommendations, but was asked Wednesday about the confusion Americans may now face over whether to trust their governor or the CDC on whether to mask up. “We’ve always said that these decisions are going to have to be made at the local level,” Walensky said, even as she acknowledged the CDC still endorses wearing masks indoors “in areas of high and substantial transmission,” which is “much of the country right now.”