"We wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim."
Rapper Nicki Minaj's claim that the Covid-19 vaccine caused her cousin's friend to become impotent has been dismissed as "false" by Trinidad and Tobago.
Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, wrote earlier this week on Twitter: "My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it and 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 and make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied."
https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1437532566945341441
In a previous tweet, the rapper said she would not be attending this year’s Met Gala due to its Covid-19 vaccine requirement.
"They want you to get vaccinated for the Met. If I get vaccinated it won’t [be] for the Met. It’ll be once I feel I’ve done enough research," she said.
"I’m working on that now. In the meantime my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with two strings that grips your head and face. Not that loose one."
Various health officials worldwide have criticised the rapper, with Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister Terrence Deyalsingh stating her vaccine claim is "false".
In a press conference on Wednesday (15 September), he said: "One of the reasons we could not respond yesterday in real-time to Ms Minaj is that we had to check and make sure that what she was claiming was either true or false.
"We did and unfortunately, we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim.
"As far as we know at this point in time, there has been no such reported either side effect or adverse event."
Deyalsingh stated the country takes such claims on social media and mainstream media seriously.
"As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported such side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad... [and] none that we know of anywhere else in the world."
Speaking about Minaj's claim, top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci told
CNN on Tuesday: “She should be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis as except a one-off anecdote.
"That's not what science is all about."
