The government announced Monday that it will cover most of the cost of 10 vaccinations for children.

Inoculation fees will be set at 5,000 won ($4.20) a shot, down from the previous average of 15,000 won, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The 10 vaccines are the BCG (against tuberculosis), DPaP (against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), IPV (against polio), MMR (against mumps, measles and rubella), DTaP-IPV (against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio), Td (against tetanus and diphtheria), Tdap (against tenatus, diphtheria and pertussis in adolescents and adults), and three vaccines against Japanese encephalitis, hepatitis B and chicken pox.

The reduced price will be applied to children under 12 year, born after Jan. 1, 1999. The shots will be available at 6,975 medical institutions nationwide including public health care centers.

The government decided to add DTaP-IPV and Tdap to its subsidy list for their effectiveness in prevention of multiple illnesses.

“Such ‘combo vaccines’ will reduce the number of inoculation sessions,” said Lee Deok-hyung, an official of the Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

In order to encourage all children to be inoculated, the health authorities have linked their computer network to the birth-registry system to inform the parents of vaccination dates through SMS. Parents will also be able to check their children’s vaccination status online.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)