Trevor Noah joked about Moderna vaccines and caused Twitter firestorm

Trevor Noah made a joke about the Moderna vaccine - and caused a firestorm on Twitter.

A 44-second video was posted to The Daily Show’s official Twitter account with the caption: “Moderna’s CEO hints at needing new vaccines to get ahead of omicron. Hmm…”

“On one hand, almost all the omicron cases have been mild,” Noah begins. “But on the other hand, the guy who stands to gain millions from new vaccines says we need new vaccines, huh?”

“If we don’t make a new vaccine, this disease could be with us Ferrari! I mean, forever! Sorry, I was thinking of something else.” he continued, mocking Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel.

“Now look, I’m not saying that the CEO of Moderna is lying. I’m not saying that at all,” Noah clarified. “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s the most objective source on this topic.”

“I’ll wait to hear what neutral experts say about a new vaccine,” he added. “People like public health officials, or the CEO of Johnson & Johnson. I mean he’s got nothing to gain because no one’s gonna buy his vaccines either way, so, I trust him.”

While Trevor Noah himself is not anti-vaxxer, the tweet has gone viral within the anti-vaxx community - as well as those opposed to vaccine mandates, and other skeptics.

As a result, some people complained that the joke is “indistinguishable” from conspiracy theory anti-vaxx rhetoric.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

“This is irresponsible and can get people killed. Shame on y’all,” said another user.

Some have come to Noah’s defense, saying that he’s allowed to be suspicious of Big Pharma.

Noah has yet to respond to the backlash.