By Prior Beharry
THE tweet by Nicki Minaj that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad had testicular swelling after taking a Covid-19 vaccine is false.
This according to Trinidad and Tobago’s Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh at a virtual media conference on Wednesday.
He said, “As far as we know at this point in time there has been no such reported – either side effect or adverse event.”
On Monday, Minaj tweeted: “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.”
Asked about the tweet at the presser, Deyalsingh said it did not help with the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said, “Claims are being made. One of the reasons that we could not have responded yesterday (Tuesday) in real time to Ms Minaj is that we had to check and make sure what she was claiming was true of false.
“And unfortunately we wasted so much time yesterday (Tuesday) running down this false claim.”
Deyalsingh said, “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 was that it wasted all our time yesterday trying to track down because we take all these claims seriously- whether it is on social media or main stream media.”
He added, “As we stand now there is absolutely no reported such side effects or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad or I dare say anywhere else in the world. So that’s a claim.”
Deyalsingh said if there was anyone with such information, it could be sent to his ministry to be investigated.
He added, “The tweet didn’t not help us. We had to extend a lot of time and energy yesterday (Tuesday). Suppose it was true?
“So far it has not proven to be true either in Trinidad… or anywhere else in the world that this is a known side effect or adverse event of vaccination.
“But her tweet certainly did not help because people like her are social influencers and they do carry some sway. It certainly did not help and it will make our job a little harder.”
Minaj has more than 22 million followers on Twitter.
