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 The White House has partnered with popular online dating platforms
such as Match, Tinder and Bumble to encourage more Americans to get
vaccinated against the virus that has killed hundreds of thousands
of people in the United States alone.
With restrictions loosening across the country as coronavirus cases,
hospitalizations and deaths decline, people are increasingly getting
back to some semblance of normalcy in their lives, including dating.
President Joe Biden's administration has set a goal of getting at
least one vaccine shot into at least 70% of U.S. adults by the July
4 Independence Day holiday. The partnership with dating sites is
meant to attract young people otherwise reluctant to get vaccinated.
"Social distancing and dating were always a bit of a challenging
combination," White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told
reporters on Friday.
He said OkCupid, one of the dating sites, reported that people who
display their vaccination status were 14 percent more likely to get
a match.
"We have finally found the one thing that makes us all more
attractive: a vaccination," Slavitt said.
The dating platforms, which cater to more than 50 million people in
the United States, will offer badges showing vaccination status,
free access to "premium content like boosts, super likes, and super
swipes" for vaccinated individuals, and filters to potential
hook-ups based on people's vaccination status, the White House said.
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 Match Group Inc confirmed the
participation of its top U.S. brands including
Tinder, Match, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish,
BLK and Chispa. Promotional campaigns will
launch in coming weeks and run until July 4.
Shar Dubey, CEO of Match Group, said: "We are
honored to work with the White House on
increasing vaccinations across America, which
will allow people to once again meet in person
and engage in meaningful ways. This will make
dating safer for everyone, everywhere."
To meet the 70% target as demand slows for
vaccines, the White House this month announced
partnerships with ride-hailing services Uber and
Lyft.
As of Thursday, the United States has
administered about 279.4 million doses, with
48.2% of its people receiving at least one shot,
according to the latest data https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington;
Additional reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in
Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and
Howard Goller)
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