"Exposing the hanta 'virus' hoax!!" reads a Korean-language X post shared May 7, 2026.
"Moderna began developing a hantavirus mRNA vaccine in 2024," it says, adding this was the "exact same playbook" the world saw with the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Scaring the public, stoking anxiety and ultimately pushing a new mRNA vaccine -- a classic Deep State tactic."
It quotes a nearly identical post that featured press releases about a collaboration between Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna and Korea University's College of Medicine on the development of an mRNA-based hantavirus jab.
Similar false claims ricocheted in Chinese, Dutch and English posts, with some alleging hantavirus "does not exist" and the deadly outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship was "pre-planned" (archived link).
The posts echo falsehoods peddled by opponents of coronavirus jabs, including that the Covid-19 pandemic was manufactured to benefit vaccine makers such as Moderna or to serve a so-called "depopulation" agenda.
As with earlier waves of misinformation around Covid-19, the circulating claims about hantavirus are inaccurate.
Kim Woo-joo, chair professor of the Vaccine Innovation Center at Korea University's College of Medicine that partnered with Moderna, said the collaboration aimed to address a "long-neglected pathogen" (archived here, here and here).
Although "relatively uncommon", some hantavirus cases are associated with a high fatality rate, making the disease "a major...
"Exposing the hanta 'virus' hoax!!" reads a Korean-language X post shared May 7, 2026. "Moderna began developing a hantavirus mRNA vaccine in 2024," it says, adding this was the "exact same playbo...