Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister said on Wednesday that government officials had “lost” the time they “exhausted” [a] false statement ”made by Nicki Minaj about swollen testicles that were possibly related to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Monday afternoon, the rapper stated in a tweet that her “cousin in Trinity will not get the vaccine because her friend got it and became powerless. Her testicles swelled.” Minaj spent that night justifying his own vaccine skepticism, saying he still needed to investigate further despite the vaccines being developed about a year ago.
He also said he would not be vaccinated to attend the Met Gala, where beatings are mandatory. Minaj then attacked the two fans who tried to send him credible research on vaccines and outlets that reported on his tweets. At one point, Tucker Carlson jumped to defend her.
The Minister of Health of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh said on Wednesday that as far as his ministry knew after spending much of Tuesday trying to track down the case, there has been “absolutely no report of this side effect or adverse event” matching the description of Minaj.
“But her tweet certainly didn’t help because people like her are socially influential and influential,” she said Wednesday, according to local CNC3. “So it certainly didn’t help and it will make our job a little harder, which we don’t need now.” Trinidad’s vaccination rate is around 32 percent.
The minister joins a growing group of medical professionals, even with bloating, discrediting Minaj’s account, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, also intervened and said any link between getting bruised and inflamed balls “is not a thing.”
There is also no evidence that the vaccine causes male fertility problems.
Minaj has continued to defend his views, as this week the medical consensus on vaccine safety has been confirmed and reaffirmed.
When UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty commented that Minaj “should be ashamed” to “pass falsehoods”, the rapper posted a strange audio message on Twitter, mocking Johnson with a false British accent. “You don’t know much about me,” he stated. “I’m a big star in the United States.”