Remember the days of A/S/L? My Single Friend? The early days of Tinder? The proliferation of dating apps covering every niche? The fight over RAYA invites? Well now, there's a new dating hurdle in town... have you had a covid vaccination?
This weekend Sarah Kelly went viral on Twitter when she posted a text from a guy she'd been dating, saying: 'lmao this is the most 2021 rejection ever'
The screengrab showed the guy messaging: 'Ur 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!!!!'
Ok exclamation mark guy!!!! Seriously though - we're all for safety and keeping the rules and those bubbles and we're VERY much all for being pro-vaccination (anti-vaxxers don't even darken our door thanks), but the idea that, before the majority of people of people have even had the vaccination it becoming a new dating standard that can rule you in or out seemed a little... well, a lot... well, 2021.
How far is this going to go... there was a time we were worried that antibody passports might leave some of us locked insides with FOMO, now do single people have to worry about whether or not their vaccination status could hold them back finding a date? Are we going to get to a point where apps even start putting vaccinated/not vaccinated as one of their categories like smoking/non-smoking?
A spokesperson for Bumble told Grazia: 'The pandemic has drastically changed how we connect with others and Bumble’s Covid Dating features help people navigate pandemic dating by allowing people to signpost what kind of dates they are looking for: virtual only, socially-distanced, or socially-distanced with masks.
'Since vaccinations began in December, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of people who have included the word ‘vaccine’ or ‘vaccinated’ in their Bumble profiles and we know that people are already having the 'conversation' before they meet."
A Vice report found OKCupid had already added a 'Will you get the Covid-19 vaccine?' when people sign up and Tinder said they'd seen a 238 percent increase in vaccine mentions in Tinder bios.
Will, 27, told Grazia: 'I’ve already had the vaccine and showcase my sticker on one of my profile photos, as I’d really like to start meeting people face to face who share similar values' - other sources told us they'd seen a real rise already in these kind of pictures being posted on the apps.
People who are not vaccinated will end up ignored, and will then just start lying, and therefore spreading covid. In short, I don’t trust men.'
For Claire* a recent pre-lockdown date with someone who definitely did not have the same social distancing standards as her has made her think that having the vaccine chat pre-date, and ideally on the app, might be a good idea.
‘It was as I felt tiny flecks of spit hit my lip – my date was an enthusiastic talker – that I thought, not for the first time, that maybe trying to date through a pandemic is not the most workable plan,' she said. 'By the end of the evening, as we waited for our ubers, I was quietly shuffling down the pavement every time he got closer … and not just because I didn’t feel the romance. A few days later, when he texted me to let me know he had tested positive for Covid, I felt vindicated: I wasn’t just being paranoid! Luckily I was fine when I got a test myself to check – he’d been on some not-so- socially-distant drinks after he met me – but I would now definitely prefer to date those who said they were vaccinated.’
For Laura it'd be a plus to know - if only to separate out the anti-vaxxers: 'I think it’d be very handy to have a ‘vaccinated’ category – yes! Why not? Then people would know whether they can or can’t have a peck on the first date! If they’re waiting for their vaccination that’s fine, but if they’ve actively chosen not to have it I’d be expecting a VERY good reason why…'
Though, as with everything on dating apps, John* points out that it all comes down to whether you believe someone is telling the truth...
'Grindr has a category where you list the last time you were tested for STDs and HIV, which I think is great and very reassuring to know that you’re meeting someone who takes their sexual health seriously,' he says. 'But it also has a category for saying whether you are HIV positive or negative, and there are lots and lots of men who are abused/ignored/trolled etc on Grindr because they are HIV positive, so end up not disclosing it at all or just lying.
'So, basically, if that’s anything to go by, then people who are not vaccinated will end up ignored, and will then just start lying, and therefore spreading covid. In short, I don’t trust men.'
Jen similarly wasn't sure it would help much: 'I don't think dating apps should add a category necessarily, because people - cough, men, cough - will just lie regardless,' she said. 'Since getting the vaccine doesn't mean they still couldn't catch corona and then potentially give it to me, it wouldn't really matter to me if they had or hadn't. To be honest, if they have been vaccinated they're probably more likely to be acting reckless right now, and I don't think i'll be vaccinated for a long time so i'll be avoiding men altogether until this is all over. I'd love a vaxxer/anti-vaxxer category though. Considering how many men my age seem to be all-out conspiracy theorists these days, that's definitely a better indication of how datable they are to me!'
* Names have been changed.