On Tuesday of this week, coronavirus vaccination will begin in the IDF, with a pilot program conducted on six military bases across the country designed to vaccinate around 6,000 soldiers.
“Preference will be given to senior officers and members of the General Staff,” explained IDF spokesman Brigadier-General Hedi Zilberman. “Also among the first to be vaccinated will be combat soldiers who are currently operational, as well as soldiers who are based outside the country, such as those manning submarines.”
He added that “soldiers with special needs will also take precedence, along with those deemed high-priority by the IDF’s medical corps.
“Later in the month,” he added, “a further 50,000 soldiers will be vaccinated – first of all those from operational units, and then others, according to the number of doses available.”
Zilberman stressed that soldiers are under no obligation to be vaccinated – rather, vaccination will be encouraged via dissemination of information. “Personally, I am going to be vaccinated,” he said.
All the same, the IDF hopes that within a few months, all career soldiers as well as those doing their compulsory service will have been vaccinated.