Most of those who refuse - in rear units • However, the army is expected to reach 84 percent immunization towards the end of the week and will be the first organization with herd immunity. • The policy is not to require soldiers to be vaccinated, but commanders have been instructed to encourage this.
Get vaccinated in uniform
Photo:
AP
Thousands of IDF servicemen refuse to be vaccinated against Corona
. The army hopes the number will drop, noting that a large proportion of those
who refuse are
not vaccinated due to fear of the vaccine.
As of last Friday, 58 percent of all IDF servicemen are defined as vaccinated against the corona virus, ie a week has passed since the date of receiving the second vaccine, or they have recovered after they have fallen ill. Most of them will complete the second dose of vaccine, and as a result, by the end of next week, about 84 percent of the army will be defined as vaccinated, and it will become the first organization in Israel with herd immunity.
However, not all units in the military will be defined as “protected,” that is, as those whose immunized and recovering servants account for 85 percent or more.
In the operational units, the situation is better and they will all be defined as "protected", since the rate of those vaccinated in them is particularly high and the number of those who refuse is low.
The situation is less good in some of the rear units, where vaccination rates are lower.
Given the relatively high level of refusal in some rear units, mainly commanders, there are units that will not be defined as "protected" next week either, and the significant relief given by the military to units with a vaccination rate higher than 85 percent will not apply to them.
Archive photo: IDF Spokesman
As a rule, the army did not oblige its servants to be vaccinated against corona, but commanders were instructed to actively encourage vaccinations.
The commanders of the units were measured by the number of vaccinated in their units, which led to the fact that in some of the units the soldiers reported excessive pressure from the commanders to get vaccinated.
In some cases, senior commanders have been forced to intervene.
Sharp drop in morbidity
This week, the army will continue to operate in a broad vaccine format, with about 22 vaccination facilities, but in light of the fact that the large mass of vaccinations in the IDF will end this week, starting next week, soldiers will be able to get vaccinated at one or three specific vaccination centers. Beginning with the upcoming March enlistment, the IDF will also allow police officers to be vaccinated against Corona in the military enlistment chain.
Meanwhile, last week there was a drastic decrease in the number of corona patients in the IDF. As of Friday morning, 1,354 conscripts were in permanent service and IDF employees were diagnosed with a mild condition.
As of last Thursday, 5,970 servants are in home isolation.
On February 7, the number of corona patients in the IDF was 3,270 and close to 15,000 isolated. No servant died as a result of the corona virus.