Covid-19 vaccines are fast becoming an important part of the online dating toolkit in India.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to make in-person interactions tricky, some Indians surveyed by dating app Bumble believe that they would be up for meeting someone who had got their shots. Dating app users have begun adding their vaccination statuses to their bios, besides specifying the degree of Covid-appropriate behaviour they are comfortable with.
India has vaccinated – either fully or in part – less than a fourth of its population.
With frequent local lockdowns and a brutal second wave in the months of April and May, Indians have also settled in with the idea that dating online is here to stay.
A large majority of the 2,000 people surveyed across the country even believe that it is possible to find love without meeting someone in person.
Online dating benefits
Besides Covid-19 safety, a greater amount of time spent online seems to have improved the quality of the experience on the dating app. Users on Bumble, which crossed 40 lakh users in India in 2020, report fewer instances of catfishing and a greater focus on emotional connections.
Others have reported secondary benefits, such as the idea of only partly dressing up for dates, as a nice little bonus for dating during the pandemic.
This article first appeared on Quartz.
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