The IDF announced on Thursday that it has vaccinated the majority of its soldiers.

“After ten weeks, I can say that the IDF is the first military in the world to reach herd immunity,” said Maj. Gen. Itzik Turgeman, the head of the military’s Technology and Logistics Directorate, which oversees its Medical Corps.

Turgeman said that 81% of its soldiers have been vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus, and the number is expected to increase to 85% in the next week.

Furthermore, there are currently only 140 confirmed virus cases among IDF soldiers versus 2,033 confirmed cases last month.

IDF Chief Medical Officer Brig. Gen. Dr. Alon Glasberg said that “green” status has been granted to units in which 90% of the soldiers have been vaccinated or recovered.

“This will allow us to train and operate under more normal conditions,” he said. “There are still some restrictions, but in general, a green unit can return to normal operation as one capsule.”

About 8% of IDF soldiers are “vaccine refusers,” Glasberg said, adding that they cannot force them to be vaccinated. “But the number of people who refuse or don’t want to get vaccinated is getting smaller every day.”

The remaining 11% of soldiers are scheduled to get vaccinated in the coming weeks. Some of the soldiers were in quarantine when the vaccine campaign began, delaying their appointments.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)