“Amid the rollout of updated COVID-19 booster shots around the United States, a new Pew Research Center survey finds mixed views of public health officials at the forefront of the nation’s response to the outbreak. About half of Americans (51%) say public health officials, such as those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have done an excellent or good job communicating with the public about the coronavirus outbreak; however, nearly as many (49%) say they have done an only fair or poor job. The CDC has received criticism for its COVID-19 response, prompting agency leadership to outline changes to the organization. Asked in more detail about the response of health officials over the course of the coronavirus outbreak, a lack of preparedness is among the sentiments that registers most strongly with Americans: 46% say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well. Notably, similar shares of Republicans and Democrats express this view…”