Nicki Minaj's COVID-19 vaccine claim is false, says Trinidad health minister

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) – Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh on Wednesday criticized American rapper Nicki Minaj’s claim that a person in the Caribbean island became impotent after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine as “false”.

Trinidad-born Minaj sparked an international furore when she alleged on Twitter that her cousin in Trinidad refuses to get a vaccine because his friend become impotent after being vaccinated.

“His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding,” Minaj, who has 22.6 million Twitter followers, said on Monday.

My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 13, 2021

The comments triggered an international backlash, with senior US and British coronavirus officials condemning the claims.

Deyalsingh also denounced the statement by the Grammy-nominated artist as a waste of time.

“One of the reasons why we could not respond yesterday in real-time to Miss Nicki Minaj is that we had to check and make sure that what she was claiming was either true or false. Unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim,” Deyalsingh said.

When asked about Nicki Minaj’s tweets, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, said there was a lot of misinformation on social media.

“I’m not blaming her for anything – but she should be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis as except a one-off anecdote, and that’s not what science is all about.”

Nicki Minaj said in a separate tweet that she did not attend the Met Gala, a star-studded fundraiser for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, because she wasn’t vaccinated yet.

They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grips your head & face. Not that loose one 🙏♥️

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 13, 2021

“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. if I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research. I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe,” she tweeted.

Later, Nicki Minaj added that she will get vaccinated to be able to tour.