Table 5.

The 4 themes and 18 response categories identified in the data analysis.

Theme	Categories
Trust	Historical mistreatment of marginalized populations contributes to their present-day distrust of health care. Rumors, infodemics, and mistrust contribute to the spread of misinformation. Community-based outreach is important for building trust. Individual, collective, and commercial accountability is needed to reduce COVID-19 misinformation.
Equity	Inequitable access to accurate COVID-19 information fuels vaccine hesitancy and the disparate vaccination rates observed in some communities. Inequitable access to accurate information results from the lack of representation of persons of color in communications and media. COVID-19 vaccine access is more important than vaccine hesitancy globally. Health disparities are directly related to social determinants of health.
Social media practices	Strategic design of social media platforms can reduce misinformation. Empathy and respect are critical when communicating online with people who disagree with you. Social media involves managing the different values and interests of users. A balanced approach to free speech, censorship, and psychological safety is needed. Social media companies can educate users by flagging and removing misinformation and promoting correct information. Social media users can be taught how to critically analyze online information.
Interorganizational partnerships	Public health institutions should partner to combat the global impact of COVID-19. Community health initiatives can fight COVID-19 misinformation. Partnerships between social media companies and public health organizations can disseminate credible health information and fact-check online information. Social media platforms can connect the science community with governmental agencies, commercial brands, and local health organizations.