The Covid-19 pandemic: Science

In response to the urgent need to combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage widespread vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic, we produced a compelling mini-documentary as the final instalment in our four-part content series for the Vaccine Hesitancy Project. This series was commissioned by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC), a leading organisation in the fight against misinformation and disinformation in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa. Each episode in the series served as a supporting component to the emotionally charged Public Service Announcement “Last Words,” and this particular episode – titled “Science” – offered a crucial, clarifying voice at a time when scientific facts were being drowned out by fear and confusion, made worse by the public’s distrust of public and private health institutions and corporations.  

The episode took a distinctly human-centred approach to explaining how the COVID-19 vaccine works. Featuring real-life nurses working in overrun COVID wards, the film gave a platform to those who had witnessed the heartbreaking consequences of vaccine hesitancy first-hand. These frontline workers shared deeply personal stories, reflecting on the patients they lost and the emotional toll of watching preventable deaths unfold in front of them.

Their expert commentary was delivered with compassion, humility and clarity. They helped demystify vaccine science, explaining concepts like herd immunity, mRNA technology, and immune response in a way that was both educational and human. Most critically, they highlighted a painful truth: the vast majority of patients in their ICUs were unvaccinated. That singular observation – repeated across different nurses and hospitals – served as the campaign’s most powerful and irrefutable message.

This episode demonstrated the power of authentic, personal storytelling to counter misinformation and promote science-backed health behaviour. It was intentionally unbranded, allowing organisations, health professionals, and educators across the continent to use the content in outreach, training, and communication initiatives.

As a content creation studio committed to work that provokes real world impact, we understood that breaking through vaccine resistance would require more than infographics and statistics. It would require trust. This campaign built that trust by giving the mic to nurses, the true heroes closest to the crisis, and those who had nothing to gain by telling anything other than the truth.

For brands, health organisations, and NGOs seeking to build trust, shape behaviour, and deliver public health messaging that truly resonates, the “Science” episode of the Last Words campaign stands as a powerful case study of how to do it right.

This is content that saves lives. And that’s the kind of work Iron Heart is proud to create.