By Yi Whan-woo

Korea plans to produce more than two thirds of the 27 vaccines that are required the most here, authorities said Thursday.

The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFTA) said that it will push to increase the number of domestic-made vaccines to 22 by 2017 from the current 10.

“The plan is to reduce the heavy reliance on imported vaccines and secure more self-sufficiency,” a KFDA official said.

The government plans to produce 11 of the 12 mandatory vaccines by 2017, the official said.

This is already true for six vaccines ― those against hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, chickenpox, typhoid, influenza and.

“In the past these diseases were rampant and took many people’s lives. We’ve developed our own vaccines based on the medical history of local patients,” a health ministry official said.

He added that the country will be self-sufficient in the other five vaccines by 2017. The 12th is for measles. “In the case of measles, we need a little research to collect our own microbes and data for this particular historical disease.”