It has been eight years since the central government stopped calling for people to get vaccinations against the human papillomavirus, or HPV — the main cause of cervical cancer.
In a significant policy change, a health ministry panel decided on Oct. 1 that it would resume promoting the vaccination, which is basically free of charge for girls between the sixth grade and their first year of high school.
For girls currently in their first year of high school, the deadline for the free inoculation is the end of March. And since they need to get vaccinated three times in the course of six months, time is limited for them to get the shots.