Covid-19 misinformation makes ‘no shots’ a dating decision

Washington:

In a private Facebook dating group, Renee flaunts herself to like-minded singles as an adventurous and fit kizomba dancer who at 35 exudes “inner kid vibe.” But the main attraction of her? She is not vaccinated.

The covid-19 pandemic may have receded, but dating apps, websites and social media groups still offer to unite singles who hate vaccines and believe debunked falsehoods, such as that coronavirus vaccines alter DNA or cause infertility.

The trend underscores how anti-vaccine sentiment has become an entrenched identity for many who willfully resist or ignore scientific claims that inoculations saved tens of millions of lives around the world when the pandemic was in full swing.

The vaccination status of a potential match determines compatibility not only for Renee, a self-employed Australian, but for many posts in “unvaccinated singles” groups that have sprung up on Facebook.

Dating decisions are driven by chemistry but not science. In a closed group leaked by AFP, many listed “no jabbies” as their top dating criteria, while others hailed vaccine advocates as “full-blooded freedom fighters.”

A popular meme in the group described their ideal match: “She’s curvy, she’s funny, she’s smart, she’s not vaccinated.”

It demonstrates how the pandemic turned vaccine refusal from a personal health decision to how “people express their personal brand,” said Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the University of Alberta in Canada.

“It shows how high the walls of their echo chambers are. Being anti-vaccine has become an ideological banner, a way of showing which team you belong to,” Caulfield told AFP.

“It’s less and less about the science and more and more about the values ​​being an anti-vaccine signal.”

– ‘Swipe left’ –

According to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center, about half of US adults who used a dating site or app said it was important to see vaccination status on profiles.

“Why is your vaccination status so important? I’ve even seen it listed as a ‘deal breaker’ on some profiles,” said a post on a dating discussion group on the Reddit online message board.

“The profiles I see the most say: ‘If you’re vaccinated, swipe left.'”

Some comments in the group referred to the vaccinated bachelors as carrying “biological weapons,” an apparent reference to the discredited claim that the vaccinated were spreading “superstrain” variants.

Vaccine falsehoods often overlap with other types of misinformation, introducing believers to those who espouse the QAnon conspiracy theory and anti-LGBTQ narratives.

“Studies have consistently shown that if a person is anti-vaccination, or is not vaccinated, you can make a strong guess about that person’s positions on a number of other issues,” Caulfield said.

Spreading falsehoods can also be profitable.

The Florida-based Wellness Company sells a detox supplement that it claims counteracts the ill effects of coronavirus injections, destroying spike proteins to bring back “that pre-Covid feeling.” But experts and public health authorities told AFP fact checkers that there is no evidence that the nearly $65 supplement does that.

The same company also supports a dating website for unvaccinated people called Unjected. Before being accepted, its members must have their “vaccination status certified by a medical professional,” according to the website.

In 2021, the US media reported that the Unjected app, dubbed “Tinder for Anti-Vaccines,” was removed from Apple’s app store due to misinformation about Covid-19.

A large number of similar apps for unvaccinated singles are available on the Google Play Store. One such platform is called Unjabbed, whose user reviews raised concerns about bugs and phone hacking attempts after downloading the app.

– ‘Tall, dark, handsome’ –

At the height of the pandemic in 2021, mainstream online dating platforms, including Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, sought to push vaccinations.

As part of a White House-backed effort, many platforms allowed users to create badges showing vaccination status, with OkCupid calling those inoculated the “new tall, dark, and handsome.”

Users who were vaccinated or planned to be vaccinated saw an increase in matches and engagement, OkCupid said in a blog, adding that “the vaccine is really helping people find love.”

But any future inoculation campaign could be jeopardized by anti-vaccine sentiment, which looks resilient even as the pandemic wanes and worldwide travel restrictions are lifted.

The allure of finding an unvaccinated partner is bolstered by bogus social media posts sharing unfounded fears that vaccines can “spill” or be transmitted to people through bodily fluids, threatening fertility.

“The only real use a dating platform like this could have is finding a partner who aligns with your ‘medical freedom’ views,” Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“There’s no clinical reason to do it.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)