In 1992, China classified the vaccine for the Hepatitis B virus as "Class A", meaning newborns and children could receive an immunization against the disease for free. Since then, the vaccine's coverage in children across the country has increased dramatically.
When the free vaccine program first began, only 30 percent of newborns in China were being inoculated against HBV. Now in 2013, in designated hospitals, the percentage of newborns injected within 24 hours of birth is over 95 percent. And the number of HBV carriers under the age of one has decreased to just one percent.
However, vaccination rates in rural areas are still low. And of the 350 million individuals infected with hepatitis B worldwide, one-third reside in China, with 130 million carrying the disease and 30 million others chronically infected. The HBV vaccine consists of 3 rounds. The first dose must come within 24 hours of birth. The second is one month after birth, and the last is 6 months after birth.
