As more than 94% of our soldiers collectively form antibodies two weeks after the second vaccination, it was confirmed that the government is conducting a military cluster immunity policy experiment assuming the whole nation's herd immunity from next week.
As of the 6th, 520,000 people, 94% of the 550,000 soldiers in our military, had completed the second vaccination, and the military is judging that they have effectively entered the stage of herd immunity from the 20th, two weeks after the antibody formation period.
Accordingly, the government decided to conduct a group immunity policy experiment to review the progress after normalizing the life of soldiers to the pre-COVID level after consulting with the Ministry of National Defense and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A high-ranking official of the Ministry of National Defense said in a phone call with SBS, "Each military will select a demonstration unit and have soldiers take off their masks in the camp from next week."
Soldiers of the demonstration unit do not wear a mask in all trainings including shooting, as well as sports activities such as soccer and canter, in the dormitory.
The limit on the number of people in the unit is also removed for unity events, that is, dinner parties.
In the case of religious activities that were only allowed online, you can visit temples, cathedrals and churches within the unit in person, and face-to-face meetings will resume.
However, after returning from vacation, it is known that quarantine and measures to minimize the entry of outsiders will be maintained.
The military and quarantine authorities plan to analyze the results of this policy experiment in detail and use it to determine the extent of normalization of people's lives when the entire nation enters the stage of collective immunity.
(Photo = provided by the Ministry of National Defense, Yonhap News)