The Chilean Health Ministry announced Thursday that it would launch a vaccination campaign to protect children in quake-hit regions from flu.

Children between four and 17 years old in O"e;Higgins, Maule, Araucania and Bio Bio will be vaccinated, according to the announcement.

These children will be added to an existing program which starts on March 22: The government had already planned to vaccinate health workers, women with more than 12 weeks of pregnancy, children under two years old and chronically ill pensioners.

"We have defined the groups that are going to be protected and they are going to be very different in the areas hit by the quake compared with the rest of the nation," Liliana Jadue, official in charge of the campaign, told Chilean broadcaster Radio Bio Bio.

The devastating earthquake on Feb. 27 has killed about 630 people and left some 500,000 people homeless.

Source: Xinhua