The immunization rate of Korean children 36 months after birth is highest among countries that release such statistics, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_{질병관리본부} (KCDC) said Thursday.

According to a KCDC report surveying the immunization rate of children born in 2013, the vaccination rate of Korean children until they reach 36 months stood at 96.9 percent on average, 2-6 percentage points higher than those of the United States (90.9 percent), the United Kingdom (93.7 percent) and Australia (94.5 percent).

Source : KCDC

By age, the vaccination rate of children born in 2013 was 95.9 percent for 12 months after birth (five vaccines, 13 times), 92.7 percent for 24 months (seven vaccines, 17 times), and 89.2 percent for 36 months (eight vaccines, 19-20 times), it said.

The vaccination rates for BCG (tuberculosis) and MMR (measles) were 97.8 percent, 97.6 percent for IPV (polio), 97.5 percent for Var (chicken pox), 97.3 percent for HepB (hepatitis B), 96.2 percent for DTaP (whooping cough), 95.0 percent for Hib (meningitis) and 92.7 percent for JE (Japanese encephalitis).

The vaccination rate tended to be lower in areas with high population migration but depended to a considerable extent on local governments’ aggressiveness in immunizing children.

"The government has expanded its support for free vaccination in the private sector since 2014, achieving a higher level of immunization rate than the major countries in the world,” a KCDC official said. "These results are thanks to active efforts to raise immunization rate such as sending letters to the parents of vaccinated children and investigating obstacles to non-immunized children.”

However, he added that when the child grows, he/she misses one or two inoculations, suggesting the situation needs improvement.

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