For months, Sara Jablow sought a hard-to-find combination of personality traits in potential boyfriends. Now, however, after almost a year of the Covid-19 pandemic, an indescribable feature is beginning to transcend all others for it: the vaccination status.
It is not that Jablow is demanding; the 34-year-old winery from Napa, California, has been on about half a dozen meetings with Zoom and several meetings in real life since ending her last long-term relationship in June. This time, however, the whole research is different; she received her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in late January and is looking for a partner who is vaccinated or interested in getting vaccinated soon.
“For me, it’s all about the vaccine,” said Jablow, who was vaccinated early because of her work in the California agricultural industry. “I am very direct: I believe in science, and if someone is not interested (in the vaccine) or does not believe (in vaccines in general), I am fed up.”
Jablow is certainly not the only vaccinated single person looking for safer dating these days.
Matchmakers reported seeing an intense demand for partners who received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna. Dating sites have seen dramatic increases in mentions of the word vaccine. Even if you hear masked and distant places in public parks, it seems like everyone is desperately looking for someone who has been injected.
“Being vaccinated or being open to taking it is the hottest thing you can do right now,” said Michael Kaye, spokesman for dating site OKCupid.
OKCupid users see vaccines as the “light at the end of the tunnel,” said Kaye.
“It is not only good for your health and safety to be open to receiving the vaccine, but it is also good for your love life.”
High demand
Exactly how much interest is the vaccination status currently generating? That depends on who you ask for information.
At OKCupid, Kaye said she saw a 25% increase in mentions of “vaccine” in the site’s profiles during the month of January, and a 63% increase between November and January. He added that users who answer “Yes” to a standard profile question, “Will you receive the Covid-19 vaccine?” they are being “liked” at a rate up to 25% higher than those who answer “No” or choose not to answer.
Other dating sites have reported even more encouraging statistics.
Dating site Tinder saw an astronomical 258% increase in mentions of the word “vaccine” between September and December last year, said Dana Balch, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles-based company.
“What this tells me is that the idea of becoming immune to the virus has sparked conversations around a cultural moment that is on everyone’s mind,” she said. “We hope that interest (in vaccines) will only grow.”
It is true that, at this stage of vaccine implementation, these numbers can be slightly distorted. Most people who have been vaccinated are health professionals, first responders, essential workers and people over 65 or 70 years old. In most of these cases, people are probably too busy or anxious to prioritize dating right now.
“I think there will be seismic changes in the way we think about it,” she said.
Gandhi imagined a scenario in which single people declare their vaccination status against Covid-19 in the same way that some claim that they are taking prophylactic medication to prevent HIV transmission.
“Dating is developing an emotional connection and ensuring that a person has no warning signs,” she continued. “Knowing that someone got the Covid vaccine certainly eliminates one of the biggest red flags of the era.”
What vaccination really means
Technically speaking, Gandhi is correct – at the most basic level, the vaccination status indicates whether a potential lover has received the injection. On another level, a person’s willingness to disclose the vaccination status reveals a lot about that person’s morality and its relationship to issues such as science, politics and the greater good.
Vaccination status is a way of “understanding someone’s relationship with trusted institutions,” said Jennifer Reich, professor of sociology at the University of Colorado in Denver. Vaccines mark a certain faith in public health and a desire to participate in community solutions, she said, noting that this can be important to people in the same way that certain types of causes have been important in dating over time.
“People are looking for people who share their values, and that can be their own symbolic marker,” said Reich, who has specialized in researching attitudes about vaccination for years.
The Covid-19 vaccine allows you to control your own exposure to the virus, but in addition to contributing to the herd’s eventual immunity, it says little about your willingness to control other people’s exposure, said Rachel DeAlto, match director at Match. with.
“The vaccine is to protect yourself, while the masks are to protect other people,” she said. “The conversation about masks is more difficult.”
DeAlto added that post-vaccination dating, like dating from the Covid era in general, comes down to risk tolerance.
“Someone who is vaccinated can say, ‘I’m going to take the chance and start dating people again,'” she explained. “Others will not be comfortable unless they have double protection between themselves and the person they are dating. Before you get back to this, you need to find out where you are and be very clear about it from the beginning.”
The flip side of this equation is that when two vaccinated people come together, the risks for them are almost nil, said CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, a Baltimore emergency room physician and visiting professor of public health at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
“If your grandparents have been vaccinated and they want to meet for dinner with their neighbors, as long as the neighbors have also been vaccinated, they can dine indoors because they pose no danger to each other,” said Wen. “The same goes for dating – when you date someone who is fully vaccinated, there is minimal danger for both parties involved.”
Warnings to remember
First, the current two vaccines require two injections and even then, it takes a few weeks to take effect.
Second, in the absence of an official vaccination card or social media photo, it can be difficult for people to prove to potential partners that they received the injection.
To complicate the situation, some of the more recent strains of Covid-19 were found to be more transmissible than the original, which could pose additional health risks.
Furthermore, the case count is still high, which increases the chances of everyone finding the virus.
Gandhi, the dating coach, said that as people get vaccinated and dive back into the dating pool, communicating carefully about these issues can help a lot.
“The awareness of the big picture shows that you take this seriously,” she said. “It’s signaling, in the best way.”
As for Jablow, the oenologist, the vaccination status has not changed at all – especially with regard to the way she prepares to expose others.
She still wears face covers. She still keeps her distance. She still avoids entering the supermarket at all costs. Jablow went so far as to say that she is even more cautious about her health after receiving the vaccine – out of necessity.
“If I went on a date with someone who was not vaccinated, take Covid and then give it to someone else, I don’t know if I could sleep at night or live with myself,” she said. “It felt like I won the lottery when I heard I was going to get the vaccine. It’s a responsibility. It’s an honor. I can’t screw it up. I’m not going.”
Matt Villano is a Northern California writer. Her parents were vaccinated earlier this month.