Irish anti-vaxxers looking for love set up new ‘dating without a jab' group on Telegram

The group 'UnVaxxed Dates Dublin' comes with the tagline ‘dating without a jab’.

The new group has been welcomed by other anti-vaxx groups on the platform.

Members of another anti-vaccination group called 'Vax Free Together’ have been debating the merits of people who are not vaccinated getting together through the app.

“Hopefully if there's enough interest we could organise some outdoor events,” one member has written.

“As I totally agree with you. The reason behind the group is to remove the process of having to worry about what your date will think about you being unvaccinated, take the edge off at least.

“Participants can all start off with something in common also.”

Another replies: “Totally get that and for poor kids going forward that's going to be a real nightmare. If all the ‘fads’ that that come and go I honestly think the online dating apps were the worst. I am a romantic though.”

Another jokes: “We could do speed dating in a park”.

The idea of a dating app for the unvaccinated who are looking to love is not a new one.

Pure Match in Australia promises to give anti-vaxxers in Oz the chance to bond over their shared interests, the most crucial being their decision not to get vaccinated.

"Pure. We're coming soon. Pre-register for Australia's first unvaxxed matching site," a message on the website states.

"What is the meaning of life has been the worlds hardest question. "Are you vaccinated?" has now surpassed that."

The website asks users to fill out a pre-registration form where they can express their likes and dislikes like alternative medicine, astrology, and veganism.

Hopeful romantics can even tick a box to indicate to their potential partner if they are interested in conspiracy theories and the new world order.

The app promises to be simple to use, only recommend the best potential suitors and provide a community to 'create connections with users that are like you'.

On the other side of the fence, for those who are proud vaxxers, they will be able to add vaccination badges to their profiles on Tinder, Hinge and other services.

Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) announced the partnership with Match Group’s suite of dating apps to promote the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

Match Group owns a number of popular online dating services including Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid, Hinge and PlentyOfFish.

Those apps are now rolling out vaccine-related features to users in Ireland, including profile badges and links to information about the vaccine and how to avail of it.

On Tinder, users will be able to add stickers to their profile with messages such as ‘vaccines save lives’ and ‘vaccinated’.

Those who avail of these will be given an additional Super Like as a reward for helping to promote the vaccine.

Non-paying users ordinarily get only one Super Like every 24 hours. This feature is deployed when users want their interest in another user to stand out with a notification that is highlighted by a bright blue border and star.

Tinder will also add a help centre where users can learn more about vaccines.

Hinge, PlentyOfFish and Match.com users will be able to share their vaccination status on their profiles. The latter two will offer free bonuses to users who do so.

Match.com’s AI-enabled dating coach will also encourage users to get vaccinated and adopt the profile badge.

On OkCupid, those who add an ‘I’m vaccinated’ badge to their profile will be featured in the app’s ‘vaccinated stack’, a special section which will allow vaccinated users to match with each other.

Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE, said: “The vaccination programme is a really important tool in our battle against Covid-19, and we’ve seen incredible support for the programme among the Irish people since we started.

“Thanks to Match Group, people using their apps can be sure they’re getting information on Covid-19 vaccines from the trusted source of HSE.ie as well as showing their support for Covid-19 vaccines on their dating profiles. It’s a great way to bring our campaign messages to a wide audience in Ireland.”

Alexandre Lubot, CEO of Match Group EMEA and APAC, added: “Match Group brands are honoured to support the Irish Government’s vaccine advocacy. Widespread vaccination is a crucial element in getting back to our normal lives as quickly as possible.

“We’re encouraging our users to get their shots so they can once again meet in real life and make meaningful connections."