ATLANTA (WGCL/Meredith) — Nicki Minaj fans rallied outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta to protest mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations after the rapper raised questions about the vaccine on Twitter.
Nicki Minaj is pictured in Philadelphia on Jan. 16, 2016.
“Nicki Minaj told me the truth. Fauci lied to me,” the masked protesters chanted Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Nicki Minaj tweeted that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad became impotent and experienced testicular swelling after getting vaccinated.
The CDC explained that there’s no link between the COVID-19 vaccines and infertility.
“We know that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and they don’t affect men or women’s fertility,” Neetu Abad, a behavioral scientist at the CDC, told WGCL-TV.
Minaj also suggested that she’s not vaccinated and that she’s waiting until she’s “done enough research.”
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
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
During a televised briefing Wednesday, Trinidad and Tobago Health Minister Dr. Terrence Deyalsingh also addressed the infertility claim.
“We wasted so much time yesterday chasing down this false claim,” Deyalsingh said. “As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported such side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad.”
The rapper’s tweets come as vaccination rates in Georgia remain under 50%.
“We should all question this vaccine,” a Minaj fan said during Wednesday’s protest.
Abad said fans shouldn’t take medical advice from celebrities and instead rely on their doctor’s recommendations. She also said celebrities like Minaj, who have more than 22 million followers on social media, have a responsibility to the public.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have urged platforms, small and big, to take care of what they are conveying around COVID-19 vaccines because we know that can be impactful around people’s behavior,” Abad said.
Minaj later told her Twitter followers that they should do their research and consider getting the vaccine if their livelihood depends on it.
