Public Trust in the CDC Falls During COVID Pandemic

This image shows the exterior of CDC’s “Tom Harkin Global Communications Center” on the organization’s Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia. Credit: James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Public confidence in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fallen during the coronavirus pandemic, with the decline bringing population-level confidence in the agency to the same lower level of trust that black Americans have long had in the agency, according to a new one. RAND Corporation study.

Surveys conducted in May and October 2020 among a representative group of Americans show that CDC confidence has declined by 10% over that period.

In contrast, the same study found that public confidence in the US Postal Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has increased significantly over the period, despite those agencies facing their own challenges.

“The Biden administration will fight a tough battle to restore confidence in the CDC at this critical point in the coronavirus pandemic,” said Michael Pollard, lead author of the study and senior social scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “A major challenge in the coming months will be determining who will be seen as trusted messengers with regard to vaccines and public health policy.”

The study found that non-Hispanic White and Hispanic respondents reported a significant decrease in confidence in the CDC, while the changes were not statistically significant for non-Hispanic Black or ‘other race’ respondents.

“There is remarkable consistency and convergence in the reported levels of confidence in the CDC in these subgroups after the decline,” said Pollard. “Lack of confidence among black Americans is a much publicized concern regarding the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the convergence in lower levels of trust between race / ethnicity highlights a major challenge now facing the CDC.”

Black Americans have historically held low levels of confidence in the CDC and other health institutions, widely seen as a legacy of past racism in the nation’s health system.

RAND researchers surveyed a representative sample of more than 2,000 Americans in May 2020 and asked them to rate their confidence in the CDC, USPS, and FEMA on a scale of 0 to 10. Most participants were surveyed again in October 2020. All participants were part of the RAND American Life Panel, a nationally representative internet panel.

The survey found that confidence in the CDC fell from 7.6 in May to 7 in October. Meanwhile, confidence in the mail has risen from 6.9 in May to 7.7 in October; Confidence in FEMA has increased from 6.4 in May to 6.7 in October.

The CDC’s decline in confidence was especially significant among people who planned to vote for a candidate other than Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election or did not intend to vote at all, suggesting that the CDC’s positions are now are highly politicized. No similar politicization was observed for FEMA or the USPS.

“Public trust in federal government agencies has never been more important than during the current COVID-19 pandemic, but public suspicions of scientific experts and distrust of government agencies are growing for a variety of reasons,” said Lois Davis, co-author of the report and a senior policy researcher at RAND. “Reasons for this include blurring the line between opinion and fact, and access to more sources of conflicting information.”

Researchers say one strategy that can help the CDC rebuild trust and depoliticise public opinion of the agency is to ensure the public understands the scientific rationale for policy changes and guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic .

Report: “Decline of Confidence in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic”