What\u2019s more romantic than medical history?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Unjected hosted in-person meetups across four cities this spring, it caused controversy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By\u00a0Grey Battle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Genna Betros, 27, was scrolling through Instagram four years ago when she came across Unjected, a dating app for people who chose not to receive the covid-19 vaccine. Betros had made the same decision. She was wary of how quickly the vaccine was developed, she says, and distrusting of its government support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She grew up in a vegetarian, politically independent household in New Jersey. A headache would be treated with peppermint oil before Advil. Her view of the American medical system boils down to, as she puts it, \u201cYou can\u2019t trust the doctor anymore.\u201d She believes that some doctors are beholden<\/a> to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She had profiles on Hinge and Bumble, but Unjected attracted someone she described as highly questioning who wanted to \u201cstay strong for their family and not submit to whatever the TV says,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Unjected, she matched with Corey Deemer. Betros took two weeks to message Deemer back. When she did, she realized they were only an hour-long drive apart. They met at a bar between Philadelphia and New Jersey. Deemer had a few drinks before Betros arrived. He recalled worrying she might not be real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut she showed up, and she lit up the room. We sat there and talked, played every board game there,\u201d says Deemer, a 28-year-old apprentice electrical lineman. Like Betros, Deemer was concerned by the \u201caggressive\u201d push for Americans to receive covid vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unjected describes itself as a platform to connect \u201cthose who share like-minded values and the convictions to remain unvaccinated.\u201d The app began operations in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The introduction of the covid-19 vaccine in late 2020 saved millions of lives<\/a>. It also galvanized vaccine skeptics, who have grown emboldened by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s push to revamp U.S. vaccine policy<\/a>, including a new charter for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s vaccine advisory committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dropping vaccination rates have caused some infectious diseases to roar back<\/a>, putting infants, the elderly and immunocompromised people at particular risk, per public health experts<\/a>. Data reported by the CDC shows<\/a> that non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccines have reached an all-time high<\/a>. At the same time, CDC reports show whooping cough and other vaccine-preventable diseases rising \u2014 and in the case of measles, growing to outbreaks not seen in decades<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so when Unjected hosted in-person meetups across four cities this spring, it sparked anger<\/a> online<\/a>. (\u201cAnti-vaxxers get a chance to fall in love with others who do not understand science,\u201d read the headline<\/a> of a Denver Post opinion column.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott Armstrong, who has handled everything from content production to customer service as operations director at Unjected, said he thinks that many anti-vaxxers are often pigeonholed for being part of the Make America Great Again movement. \u201cWho invented the vaccine? Donald Trump,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s no love for Trump around here at all,\u201dhe adds, referring to the Unjected community. \u201cComplete opposite, in fact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Unjected, the bulk of its 65,000 active users are ages 25 to 45.Many identify as politically independent, spiritual, vegetarian or vegan, according to Armstrong, who adds thatits largest user bases are in cities that had some of the strictest pandemic lockdowns \u2014 Portland, Denver, Toronto and Phoenix. California has the highest concentration of users; Alabama has none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Armstrong, 42, doesn\u2019t need his friends to be unvaccinated, it is a requirement for his long-term partner. \u201cI sacrificed a lot to remain unvaccinated. It was not an easy choice. I lost a job. I lost all my friends,\u201d he explains, referring to his decision to decline the covid-19 shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He says he remained steadfast because of his concerns that some employers were mandating the vaccine, especially given what he calls its accelerated development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The covid vaccine was able to be developed in 11 months because it was based on research spanning decades<\/a>, scientists told The Washington Post in December 2020. The study of messenger RNA, along with ways to encapsulate and transport large molecules, had begun in the 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armstrong said he \u201cwanted a partner who also had that level of resilience, who was willing to endure what it took to remain unvaccinated,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s somebody I would want to be the mother of my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unjected\u2019s users are competing for a relatively small pool of potential partners. According to national surveys, roughly 1 in 5 U.S. adults<\/a> had still not gotten the covid-19 vaccine a year after it was rolled out. And yet Unjected is one of several dating sites that sprung up in the wake of the pandemic catering to unvaccinated singles, including Unjabbed.net, Unjuiced.date, NoVax.singles and PureBlood.dating. All of these apps are still operational and targeted at people who chose not to receive the covid-19 vaccine (many users say they received some vaccinations during childhood).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting up a profile on a dating sitefor those who didn\u2019t get the covid vaccine is similar to that of mainstream ones. A user can choose to share information about theirsexuality, gender orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, education, profession and what kind of relationship they are looking for. They can also add lifestyle preferences (smoking, drinking, pets, children). Some apps are even more detailed, allowing users to answer questions about their height, weight, zodiac sign and political affiliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unjabbed.net hosts forums where users express frustrations with conventional dating sites, including how phrases such as \u201cno anti-vaxxers\u201d and \u201cno conspiracy theorists\u201d can be found at the bottom of profiles on those apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A common concernvoiced by users on Unjabbed, Unjected and other such sites is the belief, unfounded in science, that vaccinated people can pass covid toxins to unvaccinated people through physical contact. According to the CDC, there is no evidence<\/a> of this occurring. Users often reference \u201cvaccine shedding,\u201d a term for when a vaccine can briefly release virus from a vaccinated person\u2019s body. Because the covid-19 vaccines used in the United States don\u2019t contain live virus, people who are vaccinated cannot shed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unjected\u2019s founder, 32-year-old Shelby Hosana, has long been suspicious of vaccines. At 13, she received the Gardasil vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV).She believes the vaccine caused her heart conditions, including tachycardia, that appeared soon after. \u201cI was completely debilitated after having this vaccine,\u201d she explains. \u201cI became a prisoner of war to the pharmaceutical industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Researchers have studied the Gardasil and Gardasil 9 vaccines extensively and found them to be safe<\/a>; both are more than 95 percent effective in preventing precursors to cervical cancer caused by HPV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hosana now has three children of her own. They all have religious exemptions to be unvaccinated at school and community events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She came up with the idea for Unjected after talking to her godmother, who\u2019d been swiping through Tinder profiles:One man had an image of himself with a mask on; another had written that any of his matches must be vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n