Lives will be saved by a program to provide free meningococcal B vaccines to young children, the South Australian government says.
Labor on Sunday also announced a separate $1.5 million program to provide free flu vaccines to children five and under.
The meningococcal B vaccines will cost of $24.5 million over four years, if the government is returned at the March 17 election.
They will be free for all children under two and will save families about $500 for each child.
Premier Jay Weatherill said the program was about both saving lives and easing the burden on households.
"As a dad, I know the deadly meningococcal B virus really strikes fear into the heart of every parent here in South Australia," Mr Weatherill told reporters on Sunday.
"There is a vaccination, but sadly it's out of the reach of many families."
Mr Weatherill said the federal government had been asked to add the B strain to the national immunisation program but had declined to do so.
The move was welcomed by Oren Klemich, who lost his 18-year-old son Jack to the virus in 2009.
"He played football for his school on Saturday, he had a headache on Sunday and he died on Monday. That's how vicious this horrible thing called meningococcal is," Mr Klemich said.
"Meningococcal is a killer and the pain for families is astounding."
Mr Klemich said he'd like to eventually see the vaccine also offered free to older children, with the government currently involved in a trial involving thousands of high school students.
The the provision of free flu vaccines to pre-school children comes off the back of one of the worst flu seasons on record last year with 27,463 confirmed cases, up from 7851 in 2016.
"As the leading cause of hospitalisation among young children, influenza puts our kids at risk and places an enormous strain on our hospitals," Mr Weatherill said.
