We didn’t mandate COVID-19 vaccination as condition for clearance, Osun NYSC clarifies

The rumours that COVID-19 vaccination had been made mandatory for youths serving in Osun State, has been denied by the State Co-ordinator of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), Mr Adewale Adegoke.

Adegoke who was responding to the trends that made the rounds on social media Tuesday, said denied the scheme has not mandated vaccination as a condition for the monthly biometric clearance.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Adegoke said vaccination for COVID-19 remained a thing of choice, and corps members would never be forced to get it.

“The vaccine administration is voluntary and therefore only corps members and members of staff who were interested were administered the vaccine during the 2021 Batch A orientation course and now,” the statement read.

“It should also be noted that out of the over 4000 corps members in the state only a few hundreds have been vaccinated so far.

READ ALSO: NYSC denies abandoning corps members at covid-19 isolation centres

“The State Coordinator, having been vaccinated along with the management and some members of staff had encouraged corps members and other members of staff to leverage on the opportunity provided by the scheme in order to be safe.

“The kind gesture of the Director-General in liaising with the appropriate bodies to ensure the vaccine is made available to corps members nationwide is proof of his deep commitment to the welfare and safety of the NYSC members but at no point in time did the scheme at all levels ever compel nor attach its statutory duties to the corps members to the administration of the corona vaccine.

“We wish to call on members of the scheme in the state to debunk all rumours and myths surrounding the vaccine as it has been proven and approved to be safe”, it reads.

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