Chris Whitty has criticised the comments from Nicki Minaj after she claimed someone had become impotent after having the Covid vaccine (Alamy)
3 min read
The singer and rapper Nicki Minaj has said she “loves” Boris Johnson after a press conference in which the UK’s chief medical officer attacked her “clearly ridiculous” claims about the Covid vaccine.
Chris Whitty urged people to ignore her comments when asked at a Downing Street briefing about tweets in which she claimed her cousin’s friend became impotent and “his testicles became swollen” after being jabbed.
Minaj had posted about the requirement to be vaccinated to attend last night’s Met Gala in New York, saying: “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.”
She followed that up by tweeting: “My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it and 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 and make sure you’re comfortable with your decision, not bullied.”
However the American musician did later tell people who needed to get jabbed for work she would definitely “recommend they get the vaccine”, adding: “I’m sure I’ll be vaccinated as well because I have to go on tour, etc.”
Asked about the comments at today’s press conference Whitty said: “So there are a number of myths that fly around some of which are just clearly ridiculous. And some of which are clearly designed just to scare, that happens to be one of them. That is untrue.
“And my own strong suggestion if I may, to media present and not present, is repeating them in public actually just gives some credence which they don’t need. That is untrue, full stop.”
On the wider issue of anti-vaxxers he added: “There are a group of people who’ve got strange beliefs and that’s fine, and they make their own choices and thats also fine, adults are allowed to make their own choices, however strange, that is a basic principle of medical ethics actually.
“But there are also people who go around trying to discourage other people from taking a vaccine, which could be life saving or prevent them from having life changing injuries to themselves.
“And many of those people I regret to say, I think know that they are peddling untruths, but they still do it. In my view, they should be ashamed.”
Standing alongside him Boris Johnson passed Nikki Kanani, Medical Director of Primary Care for NHS England, saying: “I’m not as familiar with the works of Nicki Minaj as I probably should be, but I am familiar with it with Nikki Kanani, superstar GP of Bexley, who’s appeared many times before you who will tell you that vaccines are wonderful and everybody should get them.
“So I prefer to listen to Nikki Kanani.”
Minaj responded on Twitter by saying she loved the PM, despite the “diss”.
She followed this up with a spoof recording of herself speaking with an English accent, in which she claimed to have attended Oxford University and went to school with Margaret Thatcher.
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