California Bill Would Mandate HPV Vaccine For Students

Joselyn Chaiprasert-Paguio was a freshman in college when she received life-changing news from doctors – she had HPV.

"They kind of told me that it would go away and don’t worry about it, but it kept recurring and kind of developed into cervical cancer when I was 22," said Chaiprasert-Paguio.

Multiple surgeries proved unsuccessful as she struggled for years with infertility and ultimately had to have a hysterectomy. Had an HPV vaccine been around years ago, Chaiprasert-Paguio says her life would have turned out differently.

"It wasn’t around when I was young so I didn’t receive the vaccine, but I know that if I were to have received the vaccine, I wouldn’t have gone through what I went through and I’m fortunate that my daughter won’t have to go through that either," said Chaiprasert-Paguio.

She’s taking her 10-year-old daughter to get her HPV vaccine this month, and a bill in California would make that an expectation for all parents. The bill called the "Cancer Prevention Act" would require students to be vaccinated against HPV before entering the 8th grade.

"The HPV vaccine is a vaccine that uses the proteins from the virus so that when the body recognizes those proteins it’s able to fight against the HPV vaccine if it ever comes in contact with it," said Dr. Jennifer Chevinsky, Deputy Public Health Officer for Riverside County. "It’s a highly effective vaccine and it helps to prevent against cervical cancer, anal cancer, throat cancer, genital warts, a number of different conditions."

But the bill is receiving backlash from some parents…

"We are opposed to any vaccine mandate, but specifically we are opposed to the HPV mandate for both children and young adults going to college," said Denise Aguilar, Co-Founder of Freedom Angels. "We should have the option of a medical exemption and for this, a personal belief exemption."

Right now, the HPV vaccine is not required, but it is recommended for people ages nine to 45.

"The time that we know HPV vaccine will be most effective is before anybody has been exposed, so we’re really having the most effectiveness in youth, pre-teens, teens, getting them vaccinated at a younger age," said Dr. Chevinsky.

"(As a parent, my job is) making sure (my daughter) is safe and this vaccine is going to be able to do that," said Chaiprasert-Paguio.