By Jun Nucum | Philippines News Today
It has been three years since the pandemic began but about 24% of Filipino Americans (FilAms) in California, according to the 2021 tracking data, are still not fully vaccinated and boosted despite having a high percentage of health workers and professionals.
FilAms are said to have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic by three key factors:
- Overrepresentation as frontline and essential workers (e.g., healthcare, food production, and delivery sectors),
- Social inequities (i.e. barriers to economic opportunities, healthcare services, education, and other necessary resources), and
- The inherent distrust in government (due to historical mistreatment and systemic discrimination).
These disparities, together, make this population vulnerable to Covid misinformation that have led many to become hesitant about vaccines.
Additional probing questions
Today, it’s important to look into the three factors that have impacted the FilAm community with the question as to whether they have changed, especially the distrust in government and the continuing impact of Covid misinformation.
Also, do the reports of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents, related to the pandemic and fueled by false information and conspiracy theories, also added another layer of Covid misinformation?
In Filipino culture, “Pakikisama” is the desire to belong and be a part of a group and words of mouth play a crucial role. But it also has a negative effect as it can also perpetuate false information and rumors on issues like Covid and vaccines. So after three years, have these social conversations among friends and relatives on Covid and vaccines changed in any way?
And finally, it has been widely recognized that virtually all demographic groups have experienced mental health issues due to the constant barrage of Covid misinformation, fueled by political polarization, and the uncertainty around the pandemic. In the FilAm community, have these stressors caused many to augment their distrust towards government’s Covid information and become hesitant about vaccination?
Read complete story at Philippines News Today.
