The world of online dating is competitive. Single people have to use every advantage they can to make themselves more attractive than the next person being swiped through. Right now, one of the best ways to stand out is to let the world know that either you’ve been vaccinated or intend to be.
It makes sense, who in the world wants to go out on a date and come back with COVID-19?
“Yeah, I had a great date with Eddie. The problem is the next day I lost my sense of smell.”
An OkCupid spokesperson told the New York Times that those who claim to have been vaccinated are being liked at double the rate of those who’ve said they aren’t interested.
“Basically,” he said, “getting the vaccine is the hottest thing you could be doing on a dating app right now.”
*Adds “Fully vaccinated” to my tinder profile* https://t.co/PzbhG3YFmY— Dr. Jakob (@Dr. Jakob)1614380352.0
A Tinder spokesperson told Vice that the site has seen a 238% increase in the mention of vaccines in user bios, noting “a significant increase starting in November 2020 and continuing to rise in December.”
After OkCupid added the question “will you get the Covid-19 vaccine?” to its platform, it saw that those who answered “yes” get 13% more likes from potential partners.
Forty percent of Millennials and Generation Z say they would cancel the first date with someone if they said they had no intention of getting vaccinated. That number jumps to 80% when they’re members of the LGBT community.
I’m fully vaccinated against Miss Rona 💅. Going to make this my Tinder profile pic asap. https://t.co/RABNMXyYM4— Patzi (@Patzi)1611087117.0
Being fully vaccinated also means that you can date other fully-vaccinated people without having to worry. According to the latest CDC guidelines, the fully-vaccinated can “gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.”
Because let’s face it, masks may be safe but they aren’t very sexy unless, of course, you have a thing for people with partially-obscured faces.
Aside from the practical health considerations of meeting someone in the COVID-19 era, learning someone’s opinions on vaccines is a great way to know what they’re really about.
“It potentially signals people’s approach to health care, to their relationship, to science, their trust, and expertise,” Sociology professor Jennifer Reich, told ABC.
“It can signal a lot of other kinds of things that might be an indication of whether someone shares some of your values and perceptions about things like their relationships, their community, and their personal lifestyle,” said Reich added.
The fact that getting vaccinated makes people more appealing may have a positive effect on the overall vaccination rate. If refusing to get vaccinated begins limiting people’s ability to hook up, they may just decide to get a shot in order to improve their sex life.
“I guess from a public health perspective, dating apps could help win the war on the virus, because people will go: if I want to date somebody, then I better be vaccinated,” Ivo Vlaev, professor of behavioral science at Warwick Business School in England, told Insider. “The more governments and other organizations require vaccination status, the more we are going to require from each other.”