Beginning the week of March 17, the third dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine will be offered to Grade 8 girls who received the first 2 doses of the vaccine earlier in the school year.
The vaccine is voluntary and will continue to be offered in school-based clinics.
The Ontario government announced the publicly-funded vaccination program in August. Fifty-three percent of eligible grade 8 females in Guelph, and Wellington and Dufferin Counties received the first dose of the vaccine. That is equal to the provincial coverage rate for the first does of the three shot HPV vaccination program.
"We are pleased with the level of uptake of the vaccine in our community," said Susan Otten, Program Manager of the Vaccine Preventable Disease program at Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
She added, "When a vaccine is first introduced, we expect 40 to 50 per cent uptake in the first year and we’ve done slightly better than that here."
Grade 8 girls who have missed the initial doses of the HPV vaccine are still eligible for the publicly-funded vaccination program this year.
Appointments to receive the vaccine can be made by calling the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Vaccine Line at 519-846-2715, extension 4746.
For more information about clinic dates, HPV, and cervical cancer visit www.wdghu.org.
