Simberi employees have joined fellow miners in PNG to stop the pandemic from further disrupting the country’s industry. Over 150 employees have rolled up their sleeves for their first, and for some, their second AstraZeneca vaccine. The number includes contractors and expatriates, mostly Australians, working at the mine which is in the Tabar Islands of New Ireland Province. The vaccine campaign is supported by an extensive awareness program in support of the PNG Government’s appeal to citizens to protect themselves from a possible third wave of the Delta strain. “Like many Papua New Guineans, I have also read a lot of social media comments against the COVID-19 vaccines, but I chose to take the vaccine because I have a duty of care to my workmates and my family. Additionally, I am scared of what the more severe Delta strain could do to us in PNG,” said Norbert Sale, Human Resource Superintendent. St Barbara Simberi Operations is affected by the pandemic as does many mining sites, but it remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of its workforce and the host community through its own site protocols and Niupela Pasin.