Effective Dec. 14,Gardasil or other HPV vaccination will no longer be a requirement for immigrant girls and women seeking a green card.
The requirement to receive at least the first dose of the HPV vaccine, which is administered in three doses, was implemented by the CDC for female immigrants between the ages of 11 and 26 in July 2008.
“More than half of the immigrants who come to the U.S. seeking opportunity are women,” said Silvia Henriquez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, in a statement, quoted the AP. “We thank the CDC for restoring their dignity and reproductive justice.”
There are currently two HPV vaccines approved for use in the U.S. Gardasil prevents four strains of HPV, two of which cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers. The other two HPV strains are responsible for about 90 percent of genital warts. Cervarix, approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) just last month, protects against two strains of HPV that cause more than 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer in women.