Americans apparently trust healthcare professionals more than FDA, CDC

As the U.S. tries to reach a post-COVID-19 pandemic “normal,” Americans are placing more trust in nurses and doctors than agencies such as the CDC and FDA, according to a new survey from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The survey — conducted Feb. 11 – March 15, 2021 among a nationally representative, probability-based sample of 1,305 adults — included the following results:

The results matter because agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration are supposed to provide an important role in advising people about how to respond to COVID-19 and other public health emergencies. The CDC made waves over the past week when it recommended that fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks or physically distance themselves from others.

The survey, according to the report’s authors, shows Americans have higher trust in healthcare professionals than public health institutions and agencies. Public health agencies received mixed job ratings, and a large minority of the public does not trust health information from state and local public health departments.

Seven in 10 of the survey respondents wanted substantial increases in federal public health spending.