White House Is Using Dating Apps to Get People Vaccinated

June 22, 2021

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Dating apps are offering benefits, including free premium services and profile boosts, to vaccinated users.

Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) First COVID-19 Vaccine kit displayed on table

Last month, the Biden administration announced a joint effort by the COVID-19 task force and popular dating apps to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccines.

At a press conference, Andy Slavitt, the administration’s pandemic adviser, said “According to… OkCupid, people who display their vaccination status are 14 percent more likely to get a match.”

Premium benefits offered to vaccine recipients

The arrangement involves a number of high-profile dating apps, including Plenty Of Fish, Tinder, Badoo, Hinge, Bumble, and OkCupid.

The apps plan to send notifications on the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and give information about where to find doses.

Additionally, users can unlock free premium services by providing proof of their vaccination.

Other dating apps, including Match, Chispa, and BLK, are offering profile boosts to increase the visibility of vaccinated users on their platforms.

In the coming weeks, users will also be able to display a “fully vaccinated” status.

Vaccination rate rapidly decreasing

While some balk at the idea of the government working with sexually related services like dating apps, it is undeniable that the decreasing vaccination rate is a serious issue.

And what better way to encourage vaccination than to increase datability?

Image source: NavyMedicine

M. Christian

M.Christian loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer he has six novels,12 collections,100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to his name. His non-fiction regularly appears n many sites, but he’s most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of his erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing he can't write about … and brilliantly.”

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While a majority of his stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, his fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

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If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with his friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, he’s lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

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