CDC's Advisory Committee to vote today

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will determine whether Gardasil — which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a guard against the cancer-causing human papilloma virus, or HPV, for girls and women ages 9 to 26 — should be widely used. The panel’s decision would establish whether private insurers and the government would cover the cost of such vaccinations. By recommending that Gardasil be universally administered to girls ages 11-12, the committee can facilitate widespread vaccination and enable all girls and women to protect themselves from a sexually transmitted infection that the CDC says 80% of American women will have by age 50.

Opponents of the vaccine argue that abstinence is a “foolproof” alternative that negates the need for mandatory vaccination. These groups believe that vaccination will act to lower young women’s sexual inhibitions and promote risky sexual behavior, despite scientific evidence to the contrary.