WASHINGTON – In late January 2022, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) in collaboration with NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (NYU CSAAH) and community-based partners developed and released the National COVID-19 Rapid Needs Assessment survey in as part of a CDC-funded COVID-19 initiative, called Forging AA and NH/PI Community Partnerships for Rapid Response to COVID-19 (Forging Partnerships).
Project partners that participated in the National COVID-19 Rapid Needs Assessment include:
- Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA)
- Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation
- Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)
- National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
- NICOS Chinese Health Coalition
- Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington (PICA-WA)
- Pacific Islander Health Partnership (PIHP) and the Southern California Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response Team (SoCal PICRT)
- Papa Ola Lōkahi and the Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Hawai’i COVID-19 Response, Recovery & Resilience Team (NH&PI 3R Team)
- Philippine Nurses Association of America Foundation (PNAAF)
The Rapid Needs Assessment Survey was designed to understand COVID-19-related needs and knowledge within Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) communities. The survey was primarily administered via web link (online) and was translated into Arabic and 11 Asian languages (Bangla, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Nepali, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese) to widen survey participation, guided by project partners’ requests to increase language access to their communities of interest.
The survey was open between February 7 to April 12, 2022, and garnered 1,358 responses, with 1,197 Asian American and 153 NH/PI responses. The survey included questions on COVID-19 vaccination and testing, knowledge about long COVID-19 and COVID-19 variants, caregiver confidence in COVID-19 vaccinations for children, and misinformation related to COVID-19.
Key Findings from the Survey by Aggregate Racial Groups:
- Most AA (78.5%) and NH/PI (75.8%) adults who responded to the survey believed the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for themselves. However, 18% of AA and 20.3% of NH/PI adults answered, ‘did not know.’ This reported uncertainty increased when asked about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine for children, with 33.4% of AA and 37.3% of NH/PI adults answering, ‘did not know.’
- When asked how familiar they were with COVID-19 variants, 32.5% of AA adults reported they ‘have heard of it, but don’t know much about it’ and 7.4% reported they ‘haven’t heard of it.’ Among NH/PI adults, 32.5% of reported they ‘have heard of it, but don’t know much about it’ and 6.6% reported they ‘haven’t heard of it.’
- When asked how familiar they were with long COVID, 41.7% of AA adults reported they ‘have heard of it, but don’t know much about it’ and 11.7% reported they ‘haven’t heard of it.’ Among NH/PI adults, 31.8% of adults reported they ‘have heard of it, but don’t know much about it’ and 28.4% reported they ‘haven’t heard of it.’
- COVID-19 vaccination (having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine) was high among AA children (96.8%) and NH/PI children (89.7%) aged 12-17 years old. The proportion of respondents who reported having a child aged 5-11 years who had received a COVID-19 vaccination decreased in AA children (92.6%) and NH/PI children (50%).
- COVID-19-related misinformation remains widespread across AA and NH/PI communities.
Preliminary survey findings and data disaggregated by AA and NH/PI ethnic groups have been shared with Forging Partnership community-based partners. APIAHF, NYU CSAAH, and our community-based partners continue to advocate for the importance of disaggregated data on AA and NH/PI populations to present the distinct, nuanced experiences and impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on AA and NH/PI communities.
Project partners are currently utilizing the survey results to support the creation of in-language, culturally specific COVID-19 communication and education resources for the Forging Partnerships project. These communication and education products will be available at our National AA and NH/PI Health Response Partnership website.
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The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) influences policy, mobilizes communities and strengthens programs and organizations to improve the health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.