When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Coronavirus

Swipe Vax: Dating Apps Are The New Battleground Of Vaccination Divide

A Swiss-German anti-vax dating app is the latest tool for COVID-19 skeptics. As the pandemic becomes increasingly politicized around the world, will it permanently change how and who we date?

Swipe Vax: Dating Apps Are The New Battleground Of Vaccination Divide

The app “Impffrei: Love” (“Love Without The Vaccine") has reportedly registered some 10,000 unvaccinated users

Hannah Steinkopf-Frank

People usually turn to dating applications for a shot at love, but a new Swiss-German platform hopes to connect those who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and are frustrated by European health passes that limit activities (including a romantic dinner date) for the un-jabbed.

The app, called “Impffrei: Love” (“Love Without The Vaccine"), has reportedly registered some 10,000 unvaccinated users aged 20 to 50, who claim they are sick (not literally) of how the pandemic has impacted their personal liberty, reports Berlin-based magazine Cicero.


Of course, the app's terms and conditions have a disclaimer that Impffrei: Love holds no responsibility if you get COVID from a date. The app might seem like a publicity stunt or just the latest sign of how deeply divided society has become on the issue.

Love can conquer all, right? Well, when it comes to vaccines, the personal has clearly become political. For some, vaccination status is enough to swipe right or left, as it reveals much about someone's social and political beliefs.


Flaunting your jab status

While debates about vaccination are playing out across a range of media, there's a particular twist when it comes to online dating. This form of algorithm-based matchmaking has gained popularity during a time when people can’t meet in person. Apps provide a way for singles to screen potential partners to make sure they’re worth taking the risk of meeting in person. Vaccination status has become a key component of someone’s dating profile in the same way they can list their interests, education and what they’re looking for in a partner.

On this note, American-based dating apps like Tinder and Bumble now allow users to indicate if they’ve been vaccinated. In the U.S. the initiative was actually started by the White House as a push to get more people protected against COVID-19, particularly younger demographics with lower vaccination rates.

The British government also launched a similar program with vaccine stickers to share vaccination status. More creatively, the dating app BLK, which caters to the Black community, collaborated with rappers Juvenile, Mannie Fresh and Mia X to release a vaccination anthem called “Vax That Thang Up.”

At an anti-vaccine protest in Munich

Sachelle Babbar/ZUMA

A broader conversation about health and mating

On a positive note, being open about vaccination is part of a larger discussion about the role dating apps play in disclosing health statues and removing stigmas around sexually transmitted infections. Many apps aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, such as Grindr, are leading the way in making users feel comfortable sharing their testing practices and providing public health information, as well as being an outlet for contact tracing.

It’s become a lot more normalized in the queer world to share that information.

As Jen Hecht, senior director of Building Healthy Online Communities, told The Conversation, “One of the main factors is that you have generations of gay men who have lived through the AIDS crisis. That took a toll, but it also became part of their identity. It’s become a lot more normalized in the queer world to share that information.”

Two years into the pandemic, there's still no end in sight. It's clear that COVID-19 will have long-lasting effects, on everything from how we work to how we travel to how — and with whom — we date. And mate.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

In Nicaragua, A Tour Of Nightlife Under Dictatorship

Nicaraguan publication Divergentes takes a night tour of entertainment spots popular with locals in Managua, the country's capital, to see how dictatorship and emigration have affected nightlife.

In Nicaragua, A Tour Of Nightlife Under Dictatorship

The party goes on...

Divergentes

MANAGUA — Owners of bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the Nicaraguan capital have noticed a drop in business, although some traditional “nichos” — smaller and more hidden spots — and new trendy spots are full. Here, it's still possible to dance and listen to music, as long as it is not political.

There are hardly any official statistics to confirm whether the level of consumption and nightlife has decreased. The only reliable way to check is to go and look for ourselves, and ask business owners what they are seeing.

This article is not intended as a criticism of those who set aside the hustle and bustle and unwind in a bar or restaurant. It is rather a look at what nightlife is like under a dictatorship.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest