If you thought dating during Covid was bad, get ready for 2021. It will be a whole new world for singles. Gone are the days of worrying if you are going to be stood up or if another hottie is going to steal your guy or girl. Now people are sabotaging themselves all on their own with zero help from the outside. 

What does dating in 2021 look like? From a Matchmaker’s perspective, singles have always had a set of criteria they are looking for in a partner, along with deal breakers. This used to be in the form of aligned values, interests, religion, education, and kids. These “checklists” could often get ridiculous, but I have always been able to encourage flexibility and open mindedness. I now long for the days of the past. 

Today, singles will not date others who voted for a certain political party or who don’t wear masks. The new criteria is the Covid vaccine. That’s right…many singles who are vaccinated will not date unvaccinated singles. These are real concerns for many people and are serious deal breakers. As if it wasn’t hard enough to meet the love of your life before Covid. I forecast that many people will require a vaccine passport before meeting for an in-person date moving forward. Many US singles already require to see a negative Covid test before meeting in person. Check out these stats. Talk about taking the romance out of the date. We all need to feel safe and there is still a lot of fear surrounding this pandemic so it is understandable. It will just make it that much harder to meet your person.

Buckle up girls and boys, this is just the beginning of a new dating era. My advice is to try to enjoy with the dating process and keep it light – dating is supposed to be fun.