Getting The Coronavirus Vaccine Officially Makes You More Dateable

Coronavirus has most certainly put a halt to pretty much everything - with our jobs, friendships and mental health suffering as we're forced to remain locked up for months on end.

But while Covid-19 has wiped out "the old normal", there is something that has been desperately missing for a lot of singletons - a sex life.

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While popular dating apps such as Tinder and Hinge reported seeing a 15 per cent rise in new subscribers over the initial lockdown period in 2020 (people plugging the social gap with online dating, it seems), it's been increasingly difficult to get better acquainted with new people with the increasingly stringent quarantine rules effectively banning sex between separate households.

So there was a huge sigh of relief for us and our libidos when scientists announced that the long-awaited coronavirus vaccine was ready, worked effectively against the potentially fatal virus and was started to be distributed to the most vulnerable in the UK by the NHS.

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As it stands, more than 13 million people in the UK have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine, with the government hoping to have offered everyone aged 50 or over the chance to be vaccinated by Spring.

It may take some time before the entire population becomes inoculated entirely from Covid-19, but if you are among a few younger people who have managed to receive the vaccine, it seems you are already a more attractive prospect to those looking for love.

Tyla has reached out to a number of the largest online dating sites and apps in the UK, and found that people who mentioned the vaccine were considered twice as desirable.

Tinder has reported a 258 per cent rise in people mentioning the word vaccine between September and December last year, while OKCupid noted a a 137 per cent increase in mentions of 'vaccine' between November 2020 and January 2021.

While Bumble did not give us any statistics, a spokesperson from the brand revealed "an increase" in the number of people who have included the word 'vaccine' or 'vaccinated' in their Bumble profiles.

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"Two out of three people are already having the 'COVID conversation' before they meet," the spokesperson explained. "Before meeting up, 63 per cent of people had a conversation with their dates about the venue, mask wearing and physical contact, with 80 per cent of people saying that this helped get to know their date better and feel safer."

A spokesperson from Hinge agreed they had seen a rise in potential daters discussing the best way to meet safely: "The health and safety of our community continue to be a top priority. We firmly believe all users should date responsibly during this time - including using video and phone calls to build connections from home with their matches," a spokesperson said.

"At the beginning of the pandemic, very few Hinge users had been on a video date as it was typically reserved for our most intimate relationships. Now, almost half of Hinge users have been on a video date, and one in three Hinge users find video dates easier to arrange than in-person dates.

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"The pandemic has continued to shake up dating as we knew it, and of course Hinge users want to stay safe on their dating journey. At Hinge, we've found that daters are having tough conversations about COVID safety with their matches early on. Since strong communication is a key part of building a healthy relationship, we predict that these early heart to hearts will lead to stronger long-term partnerships."

However, OKCupid reported a direct correlation between those who wanted to get the vaccine to being more dateable.

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A spokesperson told Tyla: "Almost 70 per cent of over 45,000 OkCupid respondents said they are going to take the coronavirus vaccine. And people who said 'Yes' to our question 'Will you get the COVID-19 vaccine?' are getting more 'Likes' than those who said 'No.'

"In fact, people who said 'Yes' or are still deciding are getting 2.3X more 'Likes' and 1.8X more 'Matches' than those who said 'No.'

"Basically, no vaccine means no Valentine."

And while it may be a while before we're all fully inoculated against a disease that caused havoc to our lives, we're predicting a second summer of love on the way when we're finally all safe...

Topics: lockdown, Dating, Coronavirus, Sex & Relationships, Tinder, Covid-19

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley