Table 1.

Key Informant Views on the Impact of Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Communities.

Themes and indicative quotes	Examples and indicative quotes
THEME 1: Existing problems before the pandemic are still prevalent “People who didn’t have before, still don’t have now”	Living in food desserts. “In a city like Camden, they haven’t had a full-service grocery store in 50 years.” Barriers to access to services.“Do I go to the emergency room or wellness center or urgent care or my own doctor?” Work schedules hinder the ability to access services.“If I don’t work, I don’t get paid” Mistreatment from the medical establishment.“People just want to be treated with respect and patience”
THEME 2: Existing problems before the pandemic are now magnified and exacerbated	The “Peloton” affect where there are more options in general in the suburbs.“Higher income means more living space which means more options in managing quarantine life in the pandemic” Limited transportation. “Fear of getting on SEPTA if they didn’t drive” NB: SEPTA = Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
THEME 3: New problems have emerged	Housing instability (e.g., eviction).“What will happen when extensions for housing stop” Digital divide when making appointments or schedule vaccinations.“Technology is tough enough but then to add the hunger games aspect or lottery game” Unemployment and implications of unemployment (e.g., inability to pay school loans, loss of health insurance). “In addition, unemployment being the highest it’s been possibly not in history but close, so even having money to get on the bus or money for that co-pay it’s more limited.”
THEME 4: Emotional challenges have been caused by the pandemic	Grief from loss of family members.“I think there is a lot of grief and loss. We had a lot of families that have had really serious COVID in their home or their families, a lot of people have lost family members.” Feelings of isolation due to shut down of society, including closure of in-person schooling.“The isolation of shutting everything down, especially schools, has been really impactful and most importantly kids are just going to fall more behind”