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Allegheny County Board of Health rejects mandating HPV vaccine

Harry Cabluck/Associated Press

Allegheny County Board of Health rejects mandating HPV vaccine

The Allegheny County Board of Health rejected a move to mandate the human papillomavirus vaccine for adolescents to stay in school, but did approve a measure to enhance efforts to boost inoculation rates in the county.

At a meeting Wednesday, the board instead instructed the Allegheny County Health Department in two separate motions to present a “road map” on how to improve vaccination rates and to include the public in the discussion of vaccines.

Board chairman Lee Harrison said the motions did not exclude board action from future discussion, including the possibility of a mandate.

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The HPV vaccine, approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 2006 for girls and in 2009 for boys, includes three shots over six months and is meant to protect against genital warts, throat and mouth infections, and a host of cancers. The virus is a sexually transmitted disease and affects nearly 80 million people in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Made by Merck, Gardasil 9 is a vaccine against human papillomavirus, or HPV.
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Following CDC guidelines, the mandate would have required 11- and 12-year-olds to receive all three doses of the HPV vaccine by seventh grade.

Health officials had raised the issue because of the county’s low vaccination rate for HPV.

The board voted on both motions following public comment from people in a packed room at the Allegheny County Courthouse. Since the vaccination question was presented to the public June 22, the department has received emailed or mailed comments from more than 1,000 people. Of the responses from Allegheny County residents, 484 supported the mandate and 249 were opposed. For people whose residency was unknown, the department received 118 comments in support and 189 against.

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After the vote, Jessica Fitzgerald, from Baldwin, said that she was “ecstatic” that the health board vowed to look at the safety and efficacy of the drug but she would like to see more public discussion and scientific information.

“When there are risks, there has to be consent. Period,” she said. “I believe that the [idea of a mandate] will keep coming but we will keep fighting.”

The main concern for those against the vaccine was that it should be an issue of parental choice. People were also concerned about the safety of the vaccine, the fact that the virus is not transmitted by casual contact in schools, and the cost of the vaccine.

Those supporting the vaccine said it would protect people from a variety of cancers, it is safe, the mandate would save money down the line and the population is generally under-vaccinated.

Caroline Mitchell, the only board member to vote against the motion to increase efforts to boost inoculation rates, expressed concerns about the “procedural due process” of the meeting, citing the short time limit for public response, the lack of cross examination of facts presented to the board and the lack of disclosures of conflict of interest.

Although most board members said they did not have a conflict of interest, Dr. Harrison said he was currently a voting member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and Dr. Donald Burke said he was an infectious disease physician who had worked with Merck, the manufacturer of some HPV vaccines, but had not taken money from pharmaceutical companies for his academic work.

In light of her concerns, Ms. Mitchell suggested the ACHD hold several more public hearings to better understand the vaccine.

“When a legislature is contemplating the passage of any proposal that would affect the public’s privacy rights, they need a hearing where people have more than three minutes to talk,” she said.

Although the mandate has been halted for the time being, the Eye and Ear Foundation and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation plan to participate in an education campaign and continue pushing for a mandate, according to George Fechter, chair of the Eye and Ear Foundation board.

“We’re not going to stop until we achieve success, which is an 80 percent vaccination rate,” he said. “To my amazement, cancer won tonight.”

Dr. Burke said the discussion needed to extend beyond the HPV vaccine to encompass the safety of vaccines in general.

“It’s not just about HPV vaccine. It’s also a question of how do we evaluate vaccines and safety of vaccines?,” Dr. Burke said. “There are good, honest people having different opinions on this and the question is how to reconcile that.”

Lauren Rosenblatt: lrosenblatt@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1130.

 

First Published: July 13, 2016, 9:48 p.m.
Updated: July 14, 2016, 3:27 a.m.

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HPV vaccine  (Harry Cabluck/Associated Press)
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