Washington, May 22 (IANS): The White House announced that is was partnering with popular dating apps to raise vaccine awareness among young adults and encourage them to get immunised against Covid-19.

As part of President Joe Biden's goal of having 70 per cent of American adults vaccinated with at least one shot by July 4, the White House's senior Covid-19 official Andy Slavitt announced on Friday that dating apps Tinder, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, BLK, Hinge, Match, Chispa, Bumble and Badoo will begin rolling out features to encourage vaccinations among users, Xinhua news agency reported.

These apps, serving over 50 million people combined in the US, will be asking members about sharing whether they've been vaccinated against the pandemic, and begin displaying badges that a user can display on their profile to note that they've been vaccinated or are planning to be vaccinated.

Other features include access to premium content like "boosts", "super likes" and "super swipes" for vaccinated people, and search filters so that users can specifically seek others who have been vaccinated or plan to be vaccinated.

OkCupid has said that its members who display their vaccination status "are 14 per cent more likely to get a match".

"We have finally found the one thing that makes all of us more attractive, a vaccination," according to a report by the national broadcaster CNBC.

More than 60 per cent of US adults have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, but 42 per cent of the adults at the ages of 18 to 34 said they are not willing to get innoculated, according to a February Quinnipiac poll.

Young adults at the ages of 20 to 49 were responsible for 70 per cent of the Covid-19 spread last year, according to a study published in the journal Science.

Doctors also reported seeing more young adults admitted to hospitals with severe symptoms due to the spread of more dangerous variants.