Purpose of review: The mental health toll on populations exposed to COVID-19 is alarming, and there is a need to address this with urgency. This current review provides insights on how individuals, communities, and specific populations, such as healthcare workers and patients are leveraging pre-COVID-19 and peri-COVID-19 factors to reinforce their psychological resilience during the global public health crisis. Recent findings: Examination of the extant literature indicated that populations around the world rely often on support from their loved-ones, closed significant others, outdoor and physical activities, and spirituality to cope with the COVID-19-related distress. Increased sense of meaning/purpose since the COVID-19 pandemic was also reported. Summary: A portion of publications provided intervention models to reinforce resilience among specific populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, it is not convincing that some of these models can be applied universally. Additionally, it is important to note that in this category, translational data was scarce.

Members of the Black, Asian, and Latinx community have been particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic but may be hesitant to vaccinate. In a December 2020 study in Black, Asian, and Latinx adults in the U.S. (n = 779), only 50% of Black respondents endorsed intending to vaccinate against COVID-19, followed by 65% and 75% of Latinx and Asian participants, respectively. Medical mistrust, fears about COVID-19 contamination, and a proclivity for compulsive checking behaviors related to COVID-19 were significant predictors of intent to vaccinate in Black respondents. Similarly, Asian respondents’ intent to vaccinate was predicted by medical mistrust, fears of the dangerous nature of the virus, and xenophobic concerns about viral spread. In Latinx participants, medical mistrust and compulsive checking for COVID-19-related information were significant predictors of intent to vaccinate. Our findings identify specific behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs we can target to inform community-wide outreach and increase the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 is a novel infectious disease and global health crisis with major psychological implications. Of particular focus are the effects it will have on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as being under-resourced poses many challenges. Vietnam, a country with an estimated population of 97.33 million people, which until 30 July, 2020, had 459 confirmed COVID-19 cases with no fatalities but as of November 4th had 35 deaths, can be viewed as a model LMIC for other countries struggling with COVID-19. Employing key tactics such as transparency and effective communication, Vietnam was able to foster strong cooperation between government and citizens, contributing to its success during COVID-19. Moreover, Vietnamese resilience, attributable, in part, to “tam giao,” a coexistence ofreligious and philosophical Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism through cultural additivity, provides a unique mindset that other countries can learn from to adapt and even build psychological resilience against COVID-19 pandemic's psychological outcomes. We suggest countries prioritize transparency and communication to mitigate stigmatization and psychological distress that can result from quarantine and other interventions while promoting resources that provide accurate scientific information and psychological aid to citizens. We believe thatTam giaocould be repurposed to relieve inevitable contradictions between values and lifestyles in the context of this devastating global health crisis.

• Few studies examine the intersection between migration status with other social determinants of migrant health • Qualitative studies are relevant to give a voice to migrants to better understand relationships between levels of social determinants in health • Our study offers a framework that incorporates the dynamic and multilevel aspects of migrant health • More longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the health impacts of multiple stressors on Haitian migrants