Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister has criticised Nicki Minaj for wasting his time by forcing him to look into the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine after she claimed that the jab left a cousin’s friend with ‘swollen’ testicles.
The rapper sparked a row with Boris Johnson and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty after she called into question the safety of the vaccine to her 22million followers.
Trinidadian-born Minaj alleged that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad also became ‘impotent’ as a result of the jab, causing his fiancée to cancel their wedding.
However, speaking on Wednesday, Trinidad’s health chief Dr Terrence Deyalsingh blasted Minaj, saying he and his team had ‘wasted so much time running down this false claim’.
Yesterday, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there was ‘no evidence’ to back up Minaj’s remarks.
And after both Mr Johnson and Mr Whitty also slapped down her remarks on Tuesday, the rapper, 38, posted a bizarre voice message where she feigned an English accent and mockingly claimed she ‘went to Oxford’ and ‘went to school with Margaret Thatcher’.
Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister has criticised Nicki Minaj (above) for wasting his time by forcing him to look into the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine after she claimed that the jab left a cousin’s friend with ‘swollen’ testicles
Speaking in a press conference, Dr Deyalsingh 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.
‘Unfortunately we wasted so much time yesterday running down this false claim.
‘It is as far as we know at this point in time, there has been no such reported either side effect or adverse event.
‘And what was sad about this is that it wasted our time yesterday trying to track down… because we take all these claims seriously, whether it is on social media or mainstream media.’
He added: ‘As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported such side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad or I dare say… anywhere else. None that we know of anywhere else in the world.’
Dr Terrence Deyalsingh (above) blasted the rapper, saying he and his team had ‘wasted so much time running down this false claim’
Trinidadian-born Minaj alleged that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad also became ‘impotent’ as a result of the jab, causing his fiancée to cancel their wedding
His comments came after Mr Johnson told reporters he would rather listen to NHS England’s top GP Nikki Kanani about the ‘wonderful’ vaccine than the rapper.
The UK’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Witty also slammed the star, who has not been vaccinated and revealed she has contracted COVID-19, for spreading an ‘untrue’ and ‘ridiculous’ myth about the shot.
The saga first erupted when Minaj confirmed she would not be attending Monday night’s hotly-anticipated Met Gala, which mandated only fully vaccinated people could attend.
The rapper revealed on Twitter that she had not yet taken the vaccine and said ‘if I get vaccinated it won’t [be] for the Met’.
She also revealed she had tested positive for COVID-19 while prepping for the MTV Video Music Awards, causing her to skip that event Sunday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left)and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty (right) spoke at Downing Street yesterday where they condemned her comments on the vaccine
The rapper then said: ‘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,’ the rapper followed up.’
Her comments fueled a backlash from several media figures including DailyMail.com columnist Meghan McCain and MSNBC host Joy Reid – who Minaj then accused of being ‘thirsty to down another black woman’.
Minaj took to Twitter moments after the interview with Mr Johnson and Professor Whitty aired, saying: ‘I love him even tho I guess this was a diss? The accent ugh! Yassss boo!!!’
She then recorded an audio message for Johnson in a comedic British accent, tweeting: ‘Send this to the Prime Minister and let him know they lied on me. I forgive him. No one else. Only him.’
Yesterday, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there was ‘no evidence’ to back up Minaj’s remarks
In the audio, she said: ‘Yes, hello Prime Minister, Boris, it’s Nicki Minaj – I was just calling to tell you that you were so amazing on the news this morning. And I’m actually British. I was born there. I went to university there. I went to Oxford.
‘I went to school with Margaret Thatcher. And she told me so many nice things about you.
‘I’d love to send you my portfolio of my work, since you don’t know much about me, I’m a big, big star in the United States.’
The rapper’s claims about the vaccine were also taken apart by Dr Fauci.
He told CNN: ‘There’s no evidence that it happens, nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen.
‘There is a lot of misinformation, mostly on social media. And the only way to counter mis- and disinformation is to provide a lot of correct information and essentially debunk these kinds kinds of claims.
Dr Fauci said that Minaj’s controversial post ‘may be innocent on her part.’
‘I’m not blaming her for anything, but she should be thinking twice about propagating information that really has no basis, except for a one-off anecdote. That’s not what science is about,’ he added.