As part of the local support Kinross has provided to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has continued to encourage employees to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and their colleagues.
To facilitate this, at our Chirano mine in Ghana, Tasiast mine in Mauritania, and at our operations in Russia, we have supported voluntary employee vaccination programs, in partnership with local health authorities.
At Chirano, a survey was conducted amongst employees and community members to assess interest in receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. The results indicated 95% of participants were interested in receiving a vaccine. As a result, in April, Kinross partnered with Ghana Health Services to provide vaccines for employees and contractors. Over the course of four days, with medical staff on-site, over 90% of employees received a vaccine, including Terence Watungwa, Vice-President and General Manager, Chirano, who thanked Ghana Health Services for their support of the program.
In Russia, employees had indicated strong support for receiving COVID-19 vaccinations and in March, Kinross partnered with the Chukotka Health Department to provide vaccines to our Chukotka operations. Medical teams from the Bilibino Regional Hospital travelled at Kupol and Dvoinoye to administer vaccines to employees, and our Kinross medical team administered vaccines to employees at regional offices. Claude Schimper, Senior Vice-President, Russia supported the vaccination program at the sites and got his vaccine together with employees. To date, over 800 workers have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Finally, at Tasiast in Mauritania, the company recently partnered with the Ministry of Health to provide employees and contractors with vaccinations at transportation hubs before boarding buses that transport them to the mine.
Since the vaccination programs have started, the sites have seen a positive impact and Russian operations has currently removed 14-day quarantine periods for vaccinated employees when arriving on-site.