HPV immunisation: Moving toward a single dose?

The UK government is considering acting on advice that would reduce the number of HPV vaccines given to young people from two doses to one. The vaccine, currently offered to girls and boys aged 11–13, is administered to help prevent cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) – including the cervical cancer, the ‘silent killer’. A second dose is usually given about a month after the first.

But now the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (Department of Health and Social Care, 2022) believes that there is evidence to show that one dose is enough to offer protection. The announcement followed a 6-week consultation earlier this year.

In its response to interim advice on the administration of the vaccine, the JCVI noted that ‘the overall concern cited by stakeholders is that it may be too early to make the decision to change to a one-dose schedule and it may be risky to do this, as the evidence is incomplete with no evidence on duration of protection beyond 12 years. The view of stakeholders is that it would be better to wait until the one-dose trials are complete’.