FDA Approves HPV Vaccine For Adults

The time to usher out the HPV vaccine as a “teen vaccine” is now. This after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcement proclaiming that the HPV vaccine is now approved for adults.

Officially, the HPV vaccine will now be approved for adults between the ages of 27 to 45.

The vaccine claims to protect against human papillomavirus but has commonly only been prescribed for teens (or ages 9 to 26).

The FDA’s announcement claims to be a response to new research showing the vaccine safe and effective for older adults.

Even if you buy into the HPV vaccine’s benefits, it would be unlikely that any adult would benefit. Gardasil claims to work only if the receiver of the vaccine has never had HPV prior. Most adults have already had it, even those who have never been diagnosed with it. This would ultimately make the Gardasil vaccine useless.

From Live Science:

The FDA announcement means that “it’s approved for them because it’s safe and will allow them to get vaccinated if they so desire,” D’Souza said. “But we’re going to need to look to our [medical] organizations that make recommendations about prevention and disease screening to review the data and understand whether the vaccine should be widely recommended for the age group.”

So, “if you so desire” and are over 27 years of age, looks like you’ll be able to get your Gardasil fill.