Even during a pandemic, social connection is essential to our physical, mental, and emotional health.

Follow the links below to learn about best practices for socializing, dating, traveling, and being intimate with other people during the pandemic. Even if you’re vaccinated, it is important to maintain social distancing and to err on the side of safety.

Dating, Intimacy, Sex

• The 7 Best Dating Apps for Black Women

• Black Love During the Coronavirus: Advice from an Online Dating Expert

• Living Through the COVID Pandemic as a Single Black Woman [video]

• 14 Date Ideas for a Pandemic

• Dating During COVID: How Dating Apps Evolved In the Age of Social Distancing

• A Look At Online Dating During COVID | Madame Noire

• Planned Parenthood Information on Sexual Health & COVID-19

• How to Access Planned Parenthood Sexual Health Services During the Pandemic

Tips for Dating & Socializing Safely

• Think through your own boundaries

• Explain your boundaries to potential partners

• Be open minded and creative about getting to know each other in ways that are safe

• Be receptive to emotional bonding instead of focusing on the physical

• Don’t give into peer pressure

• Don’t waste time with those who don’t understand your COVID boundaries

• Don’t expect to meet someone you want to date right away

• Don’t compromise yourself

• Don’t be desperate

Socializing After Receiving the Vaccine

• Experts advise that if you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you can hang out with an unvaccinated friend from a single-person household—and they do not have to wear a mask. 

• People who are fully vaccinated can see other fully vaccinated people without wearing masks. 

• You should continue to wear face masks around people who are at risk for severe disease if they get infected with COVID-19.

When Are You Considered Fully Vaccinated?

• Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (two-dose vaccines): Two weeks after you receive your second dose. You need to wait the recommended two weeks after getting your last dose of the vaccine before socializing with friends in their homes.

• Johnson & Johnson (one-dose vaccine): Two weeks after you receive your first dose.

Travel

• All air passengers coming into the United States, including U.S. citizens, are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight to the United States.

• Do I need a negative COVID-19 test to get on a domestic flight? This is usually not required. The CDC recommends getting tested three to five days after travel and to stay at home for a week.

• What about travel to Hawaii? You definitely need to get tested, and it must by a state-approved testing partner.

• Do I need a negative test to fly home to the U.S. from a foreign destination? Yes. Even if you are a US citizen, you must have a negative test within three days of your departure.

• What if I’ve had the vaccine? This may or may not get you into another country - check before you go. Places like Canada have an online Restrictions Wizard to tell you if your vaccination is accepted for entry.

• Will proof of a vaccine or a negative test be the key for travel to some countries? In many cases - Yes. Countries are rolling out “health passport" apps that allow you to carry proof of your vaccination or a negative test on your mobile phone.

• What organizations are creating “Health Passports”? World Economic Forum and the Commons Project Foundation (CommonPass); IBM (Digital Health Pass); and the International Air Transport Assn. (Travel Pass). Airlines are also working with companies like VeriFly to expedite safety and identity issues.

• CDC travel FAQs

• CDC travel recommendations by destination

• COVID-19 international travel restrictions

• IATA’s open-closed map - Rules and regulations for visiting various countries during COVID-19