Dating app OkCupid launches 'I'm Vaccinated' badge

CHENNAI: As the second wave of Covid-19 is on everyone's mind, dating app

OkCupid

in India has seen a huge 763% increase in conversations (between March and June) around Covid vaccine and its relevance to daters while choosing a match.

The dating

app

on Thursday released an “I’m Vaccinated” profile badge and special stack to help users make informed choices about their dating lives and choose those who have taken the

jab

.

Activated by declaring one’s vaccination status on the app, the 'I'm vaccinated' badge appears in-profile and is expected to result in a 35% increase in match rate with others who are either

vaccinated

or getting vaccinated soon.

For the ones who have not had a chance to get vaccinated yet but are open to it, OkCupid will help with medically verified information to encourage them to get the jab.

“With over 3,000 questions at the heart of the product, and more added in a timely manner, we ensure all relevant subjects that matter most to millennial Indians are addressed by the app. With vaccination being the most important point of conversation today, we felt a responsibility to help daters who have gotten vaccinated or want to get the vaccine match with others who believe the same as it is a matter of health and safety," Anukool Kumar, marketing director at OkCupid, said.

Among OkCupid’s Indian daters, people who answered ‘yes’ to the question “will you get the Covid-19 vaccine” received 25% more likes and resulted in far higher number of conversations than those who answered no. Women are more cautious, as expected, with over 41% of the female users stating that anti-vaxxers are not even a consideration for them as a potential partner.

As per data collected by OkCupid, when asked if they will take the vaccine, as of June, 69% men and 71% women answered that yes they would take the vaccine compared to only 15% men and 13% women who admitted to being averse to the idea of getting themselves vaccinated against Covid-19.

When asked if they would cancel a date with someone who didn't want to take the Covid-19 vaccine, 45% women would cancel their date in case their potential partner is opposed to the idea of taking a vaccine shot. 69% of the men, a large majority, were very much willing to go on a date with someone who won't take the vaccine as well.