Ever since they were approved and recommended, in 2007, more and more kids are getting vaccinated and protected with the HPV vaccines.
So why should they be added to the list of vaccines that are required to attend school?
Why Mandate the HPV Vaccine?
One common argument against mandating HPV vaccines is that HPV infections aren’t contagious.
That isn’t really true though.
HPV infections are contagious – through sexual contact.
And we know that about half of teens in high school are having sex…
But still, some argue that they aren’t contagious like measles and chickenpox…
So why mandate the HPV vaccine for students?
“Because HPV is easily transmitted through sexual contact, the vaccine’s full promise may only be realized through near-universal vaccination of girls and young women prior to sexual activity—a notion reflected in recently proposed federal guidelines. And history, as supported by a large body of scientific evidence, suggests that the most effective way to achieve universal vaccination is by requiring children to be inoculated prior to attending school.”
Achieving Universal Vaccination Against Cervical Cancer in the United States: The Need and the Means
Because mandates are the best way to get everyone vaccinated and protected.
“School immunization requirements serve 2 purposes: (1) to protect children from infectious diseases while in a setting with high rates of disease transmission and (2) to achieve higher immunization rates in society for better herd immunity and lower disease rates.”
Barraza et al on Human Papillomavirus and Mandatory Immunization Laws
What Can We Learn From Early Mandates?
And in the case of HPV vaccines, lower rates of HPV infections means less cancer.
“When we require vaccines for school, we get more children immunized. When we get more children immunized, we prevent diseases—including cancer. When we have a vaccine that works and is safe, we should be making sure that it is given to as many people as possible, and requiring a vaccine for school does just that.”
Claire McCarthy on Why Public Schools Should Require the HPV Vaccine
And that’s why we should mandate the HPV vaccine for school.
“Vaccinating as high a proportion of the population as possible is not simply a box to be checked by public health officials; it is a moral imperative, for several reasons. The most fundamental reason for promoting universal vaccination, as has been argued for other vaccines, is that it is in the best interest of the children receiving the vaccine.”
Michele Bayefsky on The Ethical Case for Mandating HPV Vaccination
Especially since, like other vaccines, the HPV vaccine is safe, with few risks.
Most importantly, understand that the misinformation and propaganda that scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids against HPV infections is not helping them make an informed choice.
More on HPV Vaccines
- I’m Not Anti-Vaccine, I Just Don’t Believe in the HPV Vaccine
- Is the HPV Vaccine a Savior or the Most Dangerous Vaccine Ever Made?
- Are Cervical Cancer Rates Rising?
- Did Cancer Research UK Announce an Alarming 54% Rise in Cervical Cancer?
- Has Gardasil Really Eliminated Cervical Cancer in Australia?
- What Happens If You Get Gardasil and Already Have HPV
- Should You Get an Extra Dose of Gardasil9?
- About Those HPV Vaccine Trials in Infants…
- New Vaccine Bills and Laws in 2020
- Ask 8 Questions Before You Skip a Vaccine
- HPV Vaccine: State Legislation and Statutes
- HPV Mandates for Children in Secondary Schools
- Why Public Schools Should Require the HPV Vaccine
- The Ethical Case for Mandating HPV Vaccination
- Update on the Ethics of Mandating HPV Vaccination
- The HPV Vaccine: Access and Use in the U.S.
- Should Kids Be Required To Get The HPV Vaccine?
- Achieving Universal Vaccination Against Cervical Cancer in the United States: The Need and the Means
- Human Papillomavirus and Mandatory Immunization Laws What Can We Learn From Early Mandates?
- Legislation to Increase Uptake of HPV Vaccination and Adolescent Sexual Behaviors
- The HPV Vaccine: Access and Use in the U.S.
HPV vaccine is not mandated for school because it does not spread through normal contact throughout the school. Vaccine mandates are constitutional because they serve an important governmental interest: preventing the spread of disease throughout the school population. Without vaccination, those diseases could spread through the whole school and students are mandated to attend school.
With HPV, while it might spread throughout school, it does not do so through normal contact and it does not spread at the school. It only spreads “through the school” because the whole community of children is attending the school. Because of this difference, there is no constitutional justification for forcing a medical procedure on children. I have serious doubts *any* court would ever accept this.
I also have to note that your justification for mandating HPV vaccination is that not enough people agree with you that it is necessary. This is a totalitarian viewpoint. “If the peasants do not agree, just make them, for their own good.” This works in a totalitarian society, but in a free society it produces more resistance than before, as people start to wonder why authorities are forcing them to do things.