Table 2.

Qualitative coding definitions for types of concerns reported in the open-ended pandemic-related concerns question.

Physical Health	Expresses any concern about the participant’s physical health, including contracting COVID-19, worsening conditions due to COVD-19, or concerns related to pre-existing conditions or obtaining healthcare for physical conditions in general “I am most concerned about catching COVID through my daily commute or at work. One person where I work has already died from COVID. I do not know how many people at work are infected” “I am now both housing and income insecure//plus I’m 62, a former smoker and overweight so I’m Hi Risk X3 // the wealthy will be fine, me maybe not so much” “I am afraid that if I should have an emergency my family would not be able to come to take care of me or if I would be able to keep my regularly scheduled medical appointments”
Psychological Health and Mental Wellness	Expresses concern about the participant’s mental wellness or psychological health. This includes emotional impacts of the pandemic, psychiatric diagnosis or general emotional distress e.g.: depression, loneliness, sadness, not wanting to live etc. Should capture when the participant mentions their mental wellness being impacted or concern of loss of access to activities and tools they use to stay mentally well. “The constant worry about sanitizing, washing hands, wiping things down, staying away from others. It is very draining emotionally for me to always be hypervigilant.” “I am most concerned about my emotional state because the rising number of cases is exacerbating my anxiety.” “it makes me angry and I’m concerned about my mental and physical health when I live in a condition of worry and anger.” “My mental state is a mess. I am severely depressed, can barely eat, am drinking too much for relief, wake up afraid and stressed.”
Work/Finance/Employment	Expresses a concern about one’s personal work, employment or finances. This could include concerns about losing jobs, cutting back of hours, using savings etc. This code applies to participants’ own finances, not a mention of the general economy, which is covered in the Social-Political-Economic code. “probably the financial concerns are the greatest. We are trying to fit within a budget that allows us to stay in our rented apartment and still have money for food, gas, medical, etc. We are on a payment plan for our debts, but they will never be paid off now. We doing pretty well financially before, but it is all up in the air now. We are on a fixed income, so are really worried about price of food and medical going up so much that we cannot afford medication or food, or will have to leave our apartment. We had to give up our smart phones so that provided a little more isolation.” “I will likely retire a bit earlier due to ongoing risk for Covid-19. My job is held for me at the same rate of pay 3/18 to 7/30 but I expect the expectations and responsibilities to be different, and safety only partly addressed”
Access to Social Services	Expressing concern about personal lack of access to social services. Does not include access to medical, mental health or addiction services as these are included in code categories Physical Health and Psychology Health and Mental Wellness. “My other concern is I hope the US Postal Service will not get changed in any way because it is a convenient source for the older people when they can mail their letters from the mailbox.”
Access to Food	Expresses a concern about not having access to food, such as not being able to partake in meals delivery services or being able to cook or obtain food for self. “The grocery stores running out of toiletries and meats as well as dry goods such as pasta and cereals. Having to go from store to store is very stressful and time consuming. It’s a very exhausting experience.”
Access to Hygienic or Household Supplies	Expresses a concern about not having access to hygienic or household supplies or difficulty getting them. These might include things like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, masks or other supplies that might be impacted because of the pandemic. “Getting household and personal essentials is still hard to find and get.” “breakdown of supply lines. Now there is a shortage of appliances, as factories all over the world have been shut down”
Mask Wearing	Expressing any mention of mask wearing, aside from having access to mask supplies. “I am concerned that I live in a community and state where people do not take the pandemic seriously, are not following the recommended guidelines for safety and even in some cases being angry at those that do. This concerns me because it isolates me more as I’m not going out if people aren’t wearing masks and I’m afraid that the pandemic will come back even worse.” The” I’m an American and I do not have to wear a mask if I do not want to” mentality is absolutely nuts. I go to the store about once every 8 or 9 days. I’m always surprised to see how many people are going in without masks and with 2 or 3 children in tow.
Socializing	Expresses concerns about not being able to be around others and or connect with others, such as spending time with relatives, friends, and/or doing activities that involve other people. For example, this could be family or community events, whether the participant is directly interacting with other people present. This can also include concerns about the pandemics’ impact on typical connection with others, such having to utilize technology to connect remotely instead of in-person. “I really miss the hugs from my family and friends. I’ve stepped back from family so they would not touch me and it’s heartbreaking to do so with my youngest 4-year-old great niece.”
Socio-Political- Economic	Expresses a concern about social, political or economic issues that are related to the pandemic or happening contemporaneously. Economic issues are about community or society at large, not specific to the participant’s economic well-being, which is assessed with code Work/Finance/Employment. This includes concerns about the government response to the pandemic, local or federal, civil/human rights issues and protests, or mentions a concern specific to a particular sociopolitical identity group “What concerns me the most is the way so many Americans are thinking about COVID-19. Trump sort of made it seem insignificant and so many people believed him. I’m not talking about any other person or any other Republican, just Trump.” “childish fears of others, i.e., Biden and his mask attack months after the virus is gone.” “I am also concerned about a collapse of the economy.”
Spiritual	Participant mentions a concern regarding their spirituality or spiritual/religious practices. Examples might be missing church or negative impact of the pandemic on their spiritual practices. “I am most concerned about not being able to worship collectively with my church.”
Concerns for other	Expresses any concern about others other than themselves. Includes both known and general public. (Note: As illustrated in the quotes below, concerns could reflect opinions about the behavior of others as well as concern for the well-being of others). “I live in a small courtyard and three of my neighbors spend hours and hours in each other’s bungalow talking and have given up on social distancing and came up with movie night in which they share popcorn and snacks – that is people putting their hands in a bowl and grabbing snacks/popcorn. They seem to think that that since they stay home it’s okay if they spend hours talking to each other, but one goes out and works and the other two sometimes do go out for whatever reason.” “That things will get back to normal and the world can start being healthy again, too many people are suffering from this virus. A lot of people are also being persecuted economically which is devastating.”