White House teams up with dating apps to boost vaccination: 'COVID-19 shot biggest flex'

"We have finally found one thing that makes us more attractive, Vaccination!" — the White House said on Friday as it announced its latest efforts to encourage the participation of the youth in the vaccination roll-out. Taking the engagement of people in the vaccination roll-out up a notch, the White House shared that it has partnered with dating apps to provide unique incentives to users who had gotten the live-saving jab in the US. 

White House partners with dating apps for vaccination drive

Pushing more people to swipe right, and to be safe from COVID-19 while doing so, the Biden administration revealed the benefits that users of such apps would get if they were vaccinated against Coronavirus. These incentives range from free super-swipes, vaccination badges, boosting profiles of those who were vaccinated, and even filtering potential matches based on whether they were vaccinated in turn. 

"We have finally found the one thing that makes us more attractive - a vaccination," said White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt.

According to the White House, apps like Hinge, Tinder, Match, and Bumble will allow you to display your vaccination status and will give you free access to premium content if you have got the shot. Profiles of such users on BLK and Chispa will be boosted and made more visible to potential matches while those on OkCupid will be allowed to filter potential partners based on whether they've gotten a Coronavirus vaccine shot.

The White House will also use dating apps to spread awareness and direct the masses to the vaccination centres near them. Educational materials and information on how to find the nearest vaccination site will be uploaded on these apps for the users' benefit. Additional promotional efforts include free rides to and from vaccination sites (for which White House has roped in ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft), potential cash prizes to lucky vaccinated individuals, and free giveaways and state lotteries to the inoculated. 

The Biden administration hopes that the move will help push the total number of vaccinations in the country to over 70% which is the President's goal by July 4. Currently, the U.S has vaccinated 60.5% of its population and has fully vaccinated 37% of the country. Data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. has shown that such incentives have helped bring up the vaccinations in the United States from 551,000 per day to more than 630,000 in a single day.