It has the potential to prevent thousands of cancer cases every year, but nine years after the rollout of the HPV vaccine, the response is still lagging. Many parents are delaying or refusing the vaccine for their kids, and some family doctors are uneasy — or ineffective — at recommending it.
In Pennsylvania, while coverage rates for most other adolescent vaccines are above 90 percent, just 48 percent of girls have completed the three-shot HPV series, and only 26 percent of boys, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
