NEW YORK \u2014 Dating apps offer a snapshot about a person\u2019s life, but in the space of a few weeks, a surprising health issue has emerged as a dealmaker or heartbreaker: Have you had the coronavirus vaccine?<\/p>\n
Some are bragging they have gotten the shot in order to better their chances, while others are using it to justify what one singleton described as \u201cthe most 2021 rejection ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
But can you trust every lonely heart who claims they\u2019ve been inoculated against COVID-19?<\/p>\n
Samantha Yammine, a scientist who often talks on Twitter about health issues, says she\u2019s received messages about \u201cdudes on dating apps claiming they\u2019re \u2018totally safe for close contact\u2019 because they have received the vaccine.<\/p>\n
Of course, most young people using dating apps are not in vaccination priority groups at the front of the line, so some see having gotten the shot as a sort of golden ticket for hooking up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, getting the vaccine is the hottest thing you could be doing on a dating app right now,\u201d said Michael Kaye, global communications manager for OkCupid.<\/p>\n
When asked on Monday, 43 percent of some 1,500 members of another site, Coffee Meets Bagel, said they were right now more attracted to someone who had been vaccinated.<\/p>\n
Journalist Sarah Kelly, who has not been able to get the shot, said she really got \u201cthe most 2021 rejection ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
A man on a dating site wrote her: \u201cUr real cool however I found someone who is also Vaccinated!! So I think we both wanna minimize our bubble n stay safer in these trying times!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dozens of people on social media have even suggested\u2014some jokingly, others in the spirit of pandemic entrepreneurship \u2014 that a new dating app be created for the vaccinated.<\/p>\n
Those who haven\u2019t been jabbed with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna elixirs need not log in.<\/p>\n
Kimberly Te, who hasn\u2019t been inoculated yet, was contacted by one guy who emphasized he had received his first dose. But for Te, that status is not really all that important.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t care because it seemed like he had only gotten the first dose so I did not consider him safe from Covid-19,\u201d she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t really care if someone on an online app said they were vaccinated because for the most part, I don\u2019t know these people, so I have no reason to trust them during this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cristina Vanko\u2014who participated in Moderna\u2019s clinical trials\u2014says she has seen more and more people on dating sites posting about being vaccinated, but she too is not exactly swayed by it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still little research regarding transmission amongst vaccinated individuals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, there\u2019s no difference between vaccinated or not because I\u2019m vaccinated,\u201d she noted. \u201cIt\u2019s more of an \u2018are we both aware of the risks and do we hold the same values about safety?\u2019 question.\u201d<\/p>\n
For university student Brittany Biggerstaff, people who say they are vaccinated are not more attractive because of the shot\u2014but it does mean they have put their faith in science.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives insight on a potential partner\u2019s political views and knowledge about science and medicine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In a deeply divided United States, where there is a vocal contingent of antivaxxers, even love is a battlefield. On the online discussion platform Reddit, one user, echoed by many others, mocked \u201call these women being guinea pigs for big pharma.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another vaccine skeptic chimed in: \u201cI\u2019m using people\u2019s stances on vaccines and masks to determine if I even wanna associate with these mindless fools following everything they\u2019re told.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaccination or not, after nearly a year of living in some degree of social isolation because of coronavirus restrictions, some people in the dating pool are eager to get out there.<\/p>\n
As Valentine\u2019s Day approaches, that urge is even more palpable. \u201cPeople are more active this Valentine\u2019s Day than ever before,\u201d said OkCupid\u2019s Kaye.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a really challenging year, people are tired of being alone and want someone by their side, even virtually, during these challenging times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK \u2014 Dating apps offer a snapshot about a person\u2019s life, but in the space of a few weeks, a surprising health issue has emerged as a dealmaker or heartbreaker: Have you had the coronavirus vaccine? Some are bragging they have gotten the shot in order to better their chances, while others are using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1231,"featured_media":1364899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,43],"tags":[563571],"byline":[],"source":[206065],"column":[],"editor":[189937],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n