Elmo Got The COVID-19 Vaccine and Twitter Is NOT Happy About It

On Tuesday, Elmo started trending after he revealed that he got the COVID-19 vaccine.

The beloved "Sesame Street" character wound up the subject of controversy when he told his followers that he had gotten vaccinated, just like his parents, to help protect his family, friends, and his community.

On Tuesday morning, the official Sesame Street Twitter account tweeted, "It's okay to have questions about COVID-19 vaccines for children! Elmo's dad Louie talked to their pediatrician, and learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep him and his whole neighborhood safe and healthy! #CaringForEachOther."

Elmo followed it up by tweeting, "Elmo got the COVID vaccine today, just like Elmo's mommy and daddy! Elmo's daddy had a lot of questions, but Elmo's doctor said the vaccine would help keep Elmo healthy, and all of Elmo's friends and family too! #CaringForEachOther."

Although Elmo didn't share whether or not he had any side effects from the vaccine, many users on Twitter criticized Sesame Street for promoting vaccines to children.

Republican Party official Harmeet K. Dhillon tweeted, "Next episode: Elmo takes puberty blockers! Yay!"

Another user tweeted, "Elmo will soon suffer from facial paralysis, monkey pox, myocarditis, blood clots, shingles, and heart murmurs. But cool story…" The FDA has not listed these as side effects of getting the vaccine.

"This is disgusting," wrote another. "Thankfully my kid doesn't watch Elmo. And now, never will. This is so wrong and I hope it backfires on you tenfold."

"There is no end to the propagandist depravity of this world,"another user tweeted. "What’s next? Is @elmo going to talk about the 'inhumanity' of SCOTUS overturning Roe v. Wade, and how Justice Clarence Thomas is a 'very bad man'?"

However, some users enjoyed the "meltdown" that some were having over a character getting a vaccine.

One user tweeted, "Me after finding out about Elmo getting vaccinated and hearing the rightwing meltdown."

"Congratulations to Elmo on getting vaccinated!" another user wrote. "If you’re mad about a puppet getting vaccinated, please go outside."

"We live in a very weird world where a large part of the country is angrier about Elmo, a fictional puppet, receiving a vaccine than they are children being gunned down and murdered at school," another user noted.

Another user tweeted, "Thanks for doing your part Elmo!"