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Gov. Baker's COVID Response Approval Rating Sees Sizable Drop In New UMass Poll

BOSTON (CBS) - A new poll from UMass Amherst shows a sizable drop in Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's approval rating among residents for how he's handling the coronavirus pandemic.

From a sample of 800 Massachusetts residents that responded from March 5-9, 60% of them believe Gov. Baker has handled the pandemic either "very well" or "somewhat well". That differs from the same poll in October of 2020, when 79% of the respondents said Baker was doing "well" or "somewhat well" in handling the COVID outbreak.

In the March poll, 21% say Gov. Baker is doing "not too well", 16% say he is doing "not too well at all" and 4% say "they don't know."

Over the last month and a half, Baker has faced criticism for the state's rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Some residents have had difficulties making appointments, while others have said the rollout of doses has been too slow. The rollout has picked up in recent weeks, as a little over 2,500,000 total doses have been administered as of Monday.

The Massachusetts State Legislature and local government also saw a drop in their approval rating as it pertains to the pandemic. The Massachusetts State Legislation had a 75% approval rating in Oct. 2020, but that fell to 52% in the March UMass poll. Local governments' approval rating dropped from 83% to 69%.

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