2 Dec 2021

Covid-19: Scientists release 'nerdcore' vaccination rap in collaboration with politicians

11:03 am on 2 December 2021

Warning: Video has some graphic language

Scientists and politicians are spreading their Covid-19 vaccination message in a new way.

Dr Joel Rindelaub and Randa released their 'nerdcore' rap song Vax the Nation along with a music video yesterday.

It features cameos from some of New Zealand's Covid-19 scientists, including Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Chief Science Advisor Dame Juliet Gerrard and Dr Jin Russell.

Dr Rindelaub told Morning Report there was a lot of misinformation on social media around the Covid-19 vaccine, and they wanted to clear it up by getting their message across in a more "engageable fashion".

"We want to make science more accessible to everyone, that was part of the reason of the music video is we want to keep our community healthy and we want to reach young adults to help get better vaccination rates so we can all have a great summer.

"Basically, [the genre] is how it sounds. It's a little bit of a nerdier style of raps, it's a bit lyrical where we can fit some of our message in and try to get it across the best way we can.

"A lot of people wanted to get onboard even politicians like Chlöe Swarbrick, David Seymour ... so I was a little surprised that everyone was so eager to get involved but really glad that they did."

They have also stealthily managed to get Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield in there by using parts of his recorded Covid-19 media briefings.

"As you can imagine, Dr Bloomfield has much more important things to focus on but he does support the message overall," Dr Rindelaub said.

The music is produced by Floyd Cribb while Matt Cooke directed the video.