Salt Lake Community College’s Health and Wellness center will be distributing Gardasil July 14 through the 15 for anyone with or without adequate insurance.
Gardasil is the only vaccine designed to protect against genital human papillomavirus (HPV), which has been proven to be the cause of several types of cancer and genital warts.
The vaccination comes in a series of three shots; the first will be administered Wed. July 14 at the Student Event Center and Thurs. July 15 in TB East Foyer from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. The rest of the series will be given from the student Health and Wellness center in the bottom floor of the Student Center.
The regular price for the series without insurance is $130 a shot, but the school is offering them at $5 a shot. Those who have insurance will be unable to receive the vaccination at the school.
“It’s $5,” said Angie Volner, a nurse at the Health and Wellness center. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that HPV infects about 20 million Americans. Most HPV infections don’t cause any symptoms and go away on their own, but the virus can cause cervical cancer in some women, and is the cause of 75 percent of all cervical cancer cases, as well as causes 70 percent of vaginal cancer and 50 percent of vulvar cancer.
The vaccine isn’t just for women. HPV is also responsible for 90 percent of all genital warts cases in both men and women. Without prevention, genital warts are extremely painful to remove and can re-appear even after they have been removed.
“You don’t even know if you’re exposed,” said Volner. “And it’s $5.”
For more information on the vaccination, visit slcc.edu/hw or gardasil.com.