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Remember when Nicki Minaj said her cousin's friend's testicles swelled after taking the Covid-19 vaccine? Well, the Philadelphia Health Department certainly didn't forget.
The local public health agency reignited the conversation online this week after replying to one of Nicki's recent tweets that said, "Nothing like watching someone speak confidently about something they know nothing about."
In response, the official Philadelphia Public Health account tweeted the emoji eyes along with a screenshot of Nicki's September 2021 tweet that went into detail about her cousin's friend's testicles' response to the vaccine.
"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 your decision, not bullied," the "Pills N Potion" rapper tweeted last fall.
Nicki and her fans responded to Philly Public Health's online shade on Friday (February 18). The rapper claimed the agency is posting her tweets "for engagement."
"They are attempting to shame ppl for advising others to PRAY, be COMFORTABLE & NOT BE BULLIED," the rapper and mother-of-one tweeted. "I've never seen a vaccine trigger this amount of shaming & fear tactics. Have you?" she added, with a hashtag of her new single "Do We Have A Problem?" featuring Lil Baby.
After Nicki's initial tweets, the national health department of Trinidad and Tobago revealed they spent a lot of time and resources investigating the claims and did not find evidence of any such case.
At the time, the globe was experiencing a surge in new cases and public health leaders were pushing as many people to get vaccinated ahead of the predicted winter spike.