Less than half of the children who can be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV) this year have received the shot.
According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the turnout is lower than in other years. About 800,000 teenagers were invited. About 400,000 children who have not yet been vaccinated will receive another invitation in the coming weeks.
HPV is a virus that can cause cervical cancer, among other things. There is a vaccine against it. That was given to girls aged 13 and older in previous years. This year, the age has been lowered to 10. In addition, boys can also get the shots for the first time.
Turnout is lowest among boys born in 2004. They will be 18 this year. One in three invited boys in that group has passed the jab. Of the 2012 boys who turn 10 this year, nearly 43 percent have been vaccinated. More than 49 percent of the girls from 2012 received their first injection. The vaccinated children can get their second shot from the end of August.
One in ten vaccinations is anonymous. RIVM does not know the gender and year of birth of these children. So the percentages may actually be slightly higher.
In previous years, about 60 percent of those invited had been vaccinated against HPV by this time of year. According to RIVM, the fact that the turnout is now lower may be because boys were invited for the first time. “Some young people and their parents then need more time to make a vaccination choice. In addition, the invitation for the HPV vaccination fell almost simultaneously with the invitation for a corona vaccination,” explains vaccination chief Jeanne-Marie Hament of the institute.
Boys can carry the virus without knowing it and then infect a girl with it when they become sexually active. They themselves can contract penile cancer due to the virus, and then the penis may have to be amputated in whole or in part. According to the RIVM, more than 1,100 women and nearly 400 men are diagnosed with HPV each year.
The invitations were sent this spring to boys and girls born in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012. Early next year, children from 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013 can be vaccinated. The HPV vaccination is part of the National Immunization Programme. This also includes the vaccinations of children against diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, mumps, measles and rubella.