About 800,000 migrant workers in Beijing will be offered free vaccinations against measles and epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis from Thursday, according to sources with the municipal disease prevention and control center.

An official at the center said that the vaccinations are intended for migrant workers under 40 years old from construction sites, large building material companies and restaurants, who haven't been vaccinated against meningitis in the past three years or measles in the past five years.

He said that this is the fourth year in a row that Beijing has organized large scale vaccinations for migrant workers.

Beijing has a migrant population of around 4 million.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2007)