Dating during COVID: Is vaccine status a deal-breaker?
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Getting your vaccine has become a badge of honor on several online dating apps as some sites make it easy for suitors to share your status.
With lockdowns and quarantines, the pandemic made it harder to hook up.
Or did it?
"The second the lockdowns started, people just started flocking to online dating sites," said Jason Lee with Healthy Framework.
Some sites even created video functions for socially distanced dates.
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Now that people are getting the vaccine, it may just be the one question that prompts a swipe to the right or not.
"OK Cupid, Bumble, Tinder -- they've actually got functionality now where you can put your vaccinations onto your dating profile," Lee said.
OK Cupid and Match.com have vaccination badges you can add to you profile.
The sites will even boost your exposure as a perk of getting the shot.
"I was a little surprised at how quickly they got this up but I'm not surprised it's become a thing," said Lee, who studies online dating data and trends.
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So much of a thing, Dating.com said 86% of its users list the vaccine as a deal breaker -- no shot, no date.
Match.com said 56% of its users are concerned with a date's vaccine status and 46% said that once vaccinated they're ready to date again.
"There was a lot of desire to understand who is vaccinated and who is not vaccinated," said Match.com Chief Dating Expert Rachel DeAlto.
DeAlto said having this function for users and more video options makes dating that much easier.
"People are excited. They're excited to date and get back out there and they're making choices based on their own risk tolerance," DeAlto added.
