Is Your Seventh Grader Vaccinated for HPV Yet? It's the Rule

Social media has been ablaze this week in Rhode Island over the state’s new mandate that all seventh grade students in public and private schools are to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV.

The new policy will be in effect this fall and Rhode Island is one two states in the country, along Washington, D.C., to require the vaccine, which is proven to substantially reduce the risk of cervical cancer in women.

State officials said Rhode Island uses all CDC-recommended vaccines when adopting school immunization policies.

The concerns expressed by parents range from safety to whether the state has a right to create the mandate.

One issue is the presumption of sexual activity occurring among children since HPV is a sexually-transmitted disease. In fact, it is the most commonly transmitted STD with 14 million cases each year.

Many parents believe that giving a child the vaccine is either an endorsement of sexual activity, or sends the message that parents expect children to be sexual active.

The other concerns seem rooted in a belief that the vaccine is unsafe. Videos of teenage girls suffering severe medical complications and stories from mothers who say their daughters became gravely ill after getting the vaccine have been shared and generated hundreds of comments since the Providence Journal first reported the story earlier this week.

Parents have created a online petition which generated about 560 signatures as of Thursday. It states that “ RI parents should retain the right to make their own decisions specifically regarding the HPV vaccine and HPV vaccines should not be mandatory vaccinations to enter a public or private school in RI.”

Parents can choose to get an exemption for medical or religious reasons, but some parents “ have also been intentionally misled and lied to by school districts and have had their child vaccinated; believing they had no other option or their child would not be allowed to enter 7th grade for the 2015-16 school year,” the petition states.

Some parents say they weren’t told about or offered exemption forms from their school districts. A Facebook group, Rhode Islanders Against Mandated HPV Vaccinations, has been sharing the forms with concerned parents and has become a hotspot for the vaccine discussion here in the Ocean State.

The chief of the office of immunization for the state Department of the Health, Tricia Washburn, said that the vaccine is safe and been thoroughly tested.

“We feel it shouldn’t be treated any differently than any of the other vaccines recommended by the CDC,” she told the Journal.

The outcry on social media might not reflect the feelings of all parents, according to state records on vaccinations. About 75 percent of teen girls are already vaccinated or partially vaccinated in a multi-dose schedule.

And doctors administer vaccines early in a child’s life because that’s when the immune system is most responsive and will offer the strongest resistance in adulthood, Washburn said.

That also explains why it does not matter that HPV is not transmitted through the air, like measles. Health officials say vaccines are all about long-term protection against disease, not as medicine in the short term.

The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity on Thursday joined the chorus of people calling for parents to claim an exemption.

In a press release, Mike Stenhouse said “This growing trend of government by executive fiat and regulatory despotism bypasses the traditional democratic process and must cease.

“Where are the voices of the Governor and our General Assembly, whose authority is being infringed upon by out-of-control bureaucratic ideologues? We call on the Governor to immediately halt this mandate in order to give lawmakers time to consider overturning this unprecedented edict,” Stenhouse said.

But many parents remain suspicious when doctors or public health officials talk about vaccines. And for them, it comes down to their rights as a parent.

“I do not like my rights as a parent being taken away,” said Kathy Boiardi of Coventry as she signed the petition.

“I do not believe in a mandated vaccine caused by an STD,” said Danielle Souliere of North Smithfield. “, these are kids and we as their parents need to protect them from potentially harmful vaccines.”

“As a parent I should have the choice. My child IS NOT sexually active and does not need this vaccine,” said Monique Bergeron of Woonsocket.

The state is planning conferences in August for parents to get more information about the policy.