Despite strong endorsements from public health officials, teenage vaccination rates for the HPV vaccine are trailing the other two vaccines recommended for teens and pre-teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two vaccines approved to combat the human papillomavirus are Gardasil, which is sold by Merck, and Cervarix, which is sold by GlaxoSmithKline. To be specific, coverage was 49 percent for one dose of HPV vaccine; 63 percent for MenACWY, which protects against meningococcal meningitis; and 69 percent for the TDP vaccine, which guards against tetanus, diptheria and pertussis. Meanwhile, coverage increases for Tdap and MenACWY vaccines grew 13.3 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively. For girls who received the recommended three doses of HPV vaccine, coverage increased 5.3 percent, to 32 percent over the previous year.
