Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

        Jessica Kutz · June 2
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves

        Jessica Kutz · June 17
      • The 19th Explains: How new Title IX guidelines on sexual misconduct may give more help to survivors

        Nadra Nittle · June 14
      • The 19th Explains: How would overturning Roe v. Wade affect IVF?

        Jennifer Gerson · May 27
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a member

Donate to support our mission

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

A screenshot of different features of the Tinder app.
(Courtesy of Tinder)

Technology

The White House teams up with dating apps to promote COVID-19 vaccines

Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid and others are offering incentives to encourage users to get vaccinated.

Abby Johnston

Editorial Director

Abby Johnston portrait

Published

2021-05-21 05:50
5:50
May 21, 2021
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The Biden administration wants Americans to swipe right on COVID-19 vaccines.

Some of the U.S.’s biggest dating apps are teaming up with the White House to promote vaccinations by offering incentives and information to users. Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid and five other apps will join. 

Included among the perks on the apps are badges to show vaccination status, search filters based off of who has gotten the vaccine, and free access to paid features — such as shortcuts that allow people to link up more easily with potential dates. A release from the White House cites OkCupid data showing that users who are vaccinated or plan to get vaccinated get 14 percent more matches than those who do not. According to Tinder, the U.S.’s most popular dating app, mentions of the word “vaccine” have been up 800 percent since the start of the pandemic, reaching an all-time high in April.

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

The campaigns will launch in the coming weeks and run through July 4, the deadline that the Biden administration has given itself to have 70 percent of adults in the United States at least partially vaccinated. 

Users on Tinder will be able to indicate whether they support vaccines on their profile, and vaccinated users can access “super likes.” On OkCupid, in addition to being able to add “I’m vaccinated” stickers to profiles, users who have received the vaccine will be added to a new matching system that allows people to search based on vaccine status and receive a free “boost.” The woman-founded dating site Bumble and Badoo, which it also owns, will allow customers within the United States to add badges indicating that they are vaccinated and access content like “spotlight” and “superswipes” for free. 

Hinge, Match and Plenty of Fish will offer similar incentives to users, according to the release. BLK and Chispa, designed specifically for Black and Latinx singles, respectively, will also join in the campaign. 

It is unclear how the apps will verify if users are vaccinated or not. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 60.5 percent of American adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

“We’re excited to work with the White House to help 70% of American adults get vaccinated by July 4th,” Jim Lanzone, CEO of Tinder, said in a press release. “Nothing like fireworks to signal a new spark and a new start for those looking to meet new people IRL this summer.”

Although the initiative did not include dating apps with a specific focus on LGBTQ+ people, it could help reach them: According to an October 2019 study by the Pew Research Center, lesbian, gay or bisexual adults are twice as likely to have used a dating app than straight people. Though the CDC has noted that many LGBTQ+ people have health disparities that make them more vulnerable to the coronavirus, there is no updated data to show vaccination rates or COVID transmission among that population. LGBTQ+ organizations have warned that queer Americans have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.

Disclosure: Bumble has been a financial supporter of The 19th.

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a member

Donate to support our mission

Up Next

A patient rests in a corridor as a nurse looks on in the distance.

Business & Economy

Women in health care are at a breaking point — and they’re leaving

In the pandemic, women are abandoning health care jobs, citing burnout and decades of inequities in a system that was never designed to support them.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram