To counter the political noise in some of the comments here and elsewhere, trying to link Trump/Pence competency to this issue is a bit dishonest.
In my past life I worked in the business preparedness area, including supply chain risk analysis, workplace violence prevention and yes, pandemic planning. Most large companies have something written down to help leadership follow a "table top" scenario(s) so that Senior management doesn't have to try to create a plan from scratch during a looming crisis.
Many smaller companies don't, which is an identifiable gap, certainly...
However, our experience was that Federal, State, County and local municipalities typically have researched and developed "City of XYZ Pandemic Mitigation Plan" somewhere in a binder sitting on someone's shelf. The executive oversight will be in determining that consistent "triggers" are in place, that a clearly defined "someone" has the authority to activate the plan and follow through on the execution of the plan...across every level of government.
The difference between US and China is that such "bad news" was not authorized to push up the command structures. It's not like our national efforts which will be scrutinized by a suspect media for any stories of disarray to try an nationalize a screw up that will more than likely be caused by a local decision. IOW, I'm less worried about Pence and much more worried about the decision making skills of the folks in my region who make the calls about what's happening at the international airport 30 miles away, who is feeding in the numbers that determine plan activation and basically the entire public sector who in my book, have not exactly performed above (low) expectations through a number of administrations this millennium.
The rates of Coronavirus in the US up to now can't really be blamed on the Trump administration.
Going forward, however, there are definitely things that will likely affect (negatively) the response to it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/coronavirus-us-whistleblower.html"Staff members from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families were sent to Travis Air Force Base and March Air Reserve Base in late January and early February and were ordered to enter quarantined areas, including a hangar where coronavirus evacuees were being received, the complaint said. They were not provided safety-protocol training until five days into their assignment, said the whistle-blower, who is described as a senior leader at the health agency.
Without proper training or equipment, some of the exposed staff members moved freely around and off the bases, with at least one person staying in a nearby hotel and leaving California on a commercial flight. Many were unaware of the need to test their temperatures three times a day."
In 2018 the Trump administration fired key officials connected to the U.S. pandemic response, and they were not replaced.
It's also worth noting that in 2018, the Trump administration cut by 80% the CDC’s program that worked in various countries to fight epidemics.
These things will likely have an impact going forward.
I won't comment specifically on the qualifications or track records of the people Trump has appointed to senior positions at agencies related to combating pandemics.