NEWS

Nicki Minaj says she will get COVID-19 vaccine “once I feel I’ve done enough research”

Nicki Minaj has revealed that she’s “sure” she’ll get vaccinated against COVID-19 to go on tour and once she feels she’s “done enough research”.

The rapper discussed the COVID-19 vaccine in a series of tweets posted earlier tonight (September 13). She started by replying to a Twitter user who noted Minaj had last appeared in public over a year ago. “I have an infant with no nannies during COVID,” she said. “Who mad? Not risking his health to be seen.”

Minaj gave birth to a son last September, confirming the child’s arrival in October.

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She then appeared to imply that she’d contracted COVID-19 while prepping a video for last night’s (September 12) MTV Video Music Awards. “Do u know what it is [like to] not to be able to kiss or hold your tiny baby for over a week? A baby who is only used to his mama?” she wrote.

“They want you to get vaccinated for the Met,” she continued, referring to September 13’s Met Gala, which according to the New York Times has required attendees to show proof of vaccination, test negative for COVID-19 and wear a mask at all times unless they’re eating.

The rapper wrote, “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 grips your head & face. Not that loose one.”

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In a later tweet, Minaj claimed a cousin of hers in Trinidad refuses to get the jab because “his friend got it [and] became impotent” and “his testicles became swollen”.

“His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding,” she claimed, urging her followers to “just pray on it” and “make sure you’re comfortable with [your] decision [to get vaccinated], not bullied”.

According to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is currently no evidence showing that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause problems with fertility in women or men. According to the NHS, “there’s no evidence the COVID-19 vaccines have any effect on your chances of becoming pregnant.”

“A lot of countries won’t let [people] work [without] the vaccine,” Minaj wrote in a following tweet. “I’d [definitely] recommend they get the vaccine. They have to feed their families.”

Minaj also said that she’s “sure” she’ll get vaccinated so that she can go on tour in the future.

Minaj has since sparred with MSNBC presenter Joy-Ann Reid and conservative personality Meghan McCain over her tweets, and hit out at various media outlets.

After Reid commented that Minaj had chosen “to use your platform to encourage our community to nor protect themselves and save their lives” on her programme The Reid Out, Minaj fired back, saying, “This is what happens when you’re so thirsty to down another black woman (by the request of the white man) that you didn’t bother to read all my tweets”.

And after McCain responded to Minaj’s anecdote about her cousin in Trinidad with “That’s entirely enough internet for today”, the rapper replied, “Eat shit you”.






Minaj has also hit back at media outlets for their coverage of her tweet about the Met Gala and its vaccine requirements.

Sharing a screenshot that listed articles by USA Today, Yahoo! News and The Daily Beast, she said: “[Three] lies in a row from huge news platforms. I cited my young child as why I didn’t want to travel. But notice how NONE of them mentioned that? Ask yourself why that was.” She also responded to a fan’s post highlighting a story by Variety on her tweets.

Minaj recently featured on Drake’s new album ‘Certified Lover Boy’, providing spoken-word vocals on the track ‘Papi’s Home’. She also previewed her own new music last week, and called on a number of artists – including Kehlani, Brandy and Jhené Aiko – to collaborate with her.