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This year on Israel’s Independence Day, soldiers will march in precision formation in the shape of a medical syringe giving two coronavirus vaccinations.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
After last year’s gala Independence Day celebration was canceled due to the pandemic, Israel will get a figurative ‘shot in the arm’ this week when an IDF honor guard precision marches in the shape of a medical syringe giving two coronavirus vaccinations.
Every year at the opening of Israel’s Independence Day celebrations, an IDF honor guard parades in precision formation to a special theme. With the country emerging from a tough year of lockdowns following its successful national vaccination campaign, the soldiers’ skills were caught on an aerial camera during the rehearsal for this year’s event.
The Independence Day ceremony takes place on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and is known as the most watched television event of the year. It features selected honorees lighting six torches to open Independence Day, speeches, musical numbers and a massive fireworks display at the end.
The IDF soldiers parading in the formation of a coronavirus vaccine injection is symbolic of the successful vaccination campaign that not only allowed the economy to reopen, albeit still with some restrictions, but also helped the Israel Defense Forces to get back on track.
At the height of the pandemic in Israel, the IDF reported that more than 18,000 soldiers were out of commission with several thousand infected with the coronavirus and the others in mandatory quarantine, having been exposed to an infected individual. That impacted the IDF, as training schedules were thrown into disarray.
However, the vaccination campaign included the IDF, and now that almost all soldiers have been vaccinated, the military is back to regular operations and on Monday reported that only 14 IDF soldiers are known to be infected; 212 are in quarantine.
For the ceremony, the soldiers not only march in the shape of a syringe, they precision march to show the plunger going up and down to give the two injections of vaccine needed.
With the economy running again and children back in school, that’s reflective of the shots in the arm the country needed!
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