The long-running children’s program Sesame Street and its most iconic character Elmo have once again been conscripted into promoting the social priorities of the federal government, this time with a social media clip about the furry red Muppet receiving a COVID-19 vaccine to encourage parents to vaccinate their children.

On June 17, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) formally approved use of Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID vaccines for children between the ages of six months and six years, one of the only age groups for which the shots have not yet been approved.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention backed the decision the next day. The Sesame Street social media page elicited sharp criticisms on social media, some taking the form of macabre satire depicting possible outcomes too grim to show on the beloved children’s show.

In a strange determination to drive home a medical narrative to young children, U.S’s first lady Jill Biden thanked Sesame Street’s Elmo for getting his vaccine.