Dr Fauci reacts on Nicki Minaj's 'vaccine impotence' claims; 'not blaming her but...'

Rapper Nicki Minaj has over the last few days become the world's biggest proponent of vaccine skepticism, receiving flak from thousands of internet users and many many doctors after revealing her reasons for skipping the Met Gala 2021. Minaj, who has also revealed she's tested positive for COVID, went on a Twitter rant, claiming she wouldn't go to the glamour extravaganza because it requires all attendees to be vaccinated. Not stopping there, the rapper further claimed that her cousin's friend got a 'side effect' from the covid vaccine and was left impotent. Now, top US infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Chief Medical Advisor to the US President, dismissed Minaj's claim.

Anthony Fauci debunks Nicki Minaj's impotency claim about COVID-19 vaccine

Nicki Minaj via her Twitter had claimed, "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 Anaconda singer attempted to reason that she wasn't against getting vaccinated; rather that she'd not completed her 'research' yet. "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. I’m working on that now. In the meantime, my loves, be safe. Wear the mask with 2 strings that grip your head & face. Not that loose one."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has served the American public health sector in various capacities for more than fifty years, reacted to Nicki Minaj's claims in an interview with CNN. Fauci said, "There’s no evidence that it happens, nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen. So the answer to your question is no." 

Fauci, whose star has fallen over the last few months as questions emerged over how much he knew about the ongoings at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, further spoke about the dangers of vaccine misinformation and said, "There's a lot of misinformation, mostly on social media, and the only way we know to counter mis- and disinformation is to provide a lot of correct information." He added "And to essentially debunk these kinds of claims, which 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."

The rapper also got in a spat with late politician John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain over the impotency claim. Replying to Minaj's tweet, Meghan wrote, "You have an enormous platform and have just spread unimaginable vaccine hesitancy to your fans. Not only is it deeply irresponsible, but it is also very sad. I hope you talk to doctors and scientists like @ashishkjha like I did eventually. People are still dying from COVID. #TeamCardi."

Image: Instagram/@nickiminaj/ANI