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A public health expert is chiming after Nicki Minaj made a controversial tweet about the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday (September 13).
“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met,” the “Pills N Potions” rapper wrote online, “If I get vaccinated it won’t for the Met. It’ll be once 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.”
After revealing that she wasn’t going to get the shot to attend the Met Gala, Nicki then shared a story of a cousin’s friend who claimed to become impotent after receiving the vaccine.
“My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen,” she wrote. “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 your decision, not bullied.”
According to CNN Medical Analyst and emergency medicine physician, Dr. Lena Wen, impotence is not a known side effect of any COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized through the FDA.
“It is just not true that getting the COVID-19 vaccine is associated with infertility in either males or females,” Wen told People.
Wen did say, however that there are known side effects of getting COVID-19, which include a negative impact on the male reproductive system.
“In fact, we know that there are actually consequences, if somebody gets COVID-19, in terms of the impact on the male reproductive system,” she said, “there have been studies that have linked scrotal discomfort and low sperm count to having COVID-19. In addition, there has been an association between scrotal swelling and congestion to having COVID-19,” not the vaccine.
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine, known side effects, masks, and more, please click here.
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