Netherlands to start using new HPV vaccine next year

Children getting vaccinated against HPV from the fall of next year will get the new vaccine, which protects against nine instead of two types of the virus, caretaker State Secretary Judith Tielen of Public Health informed parliament. The Ministry is adopting the Health Council’s advice, NOS reports.

Last week, the Health Council recommended that the Netherlands switch to the new vaccine in its national vaccination program. According to the Health Council, scientific research showed that the new vaccine works just as well as the current vaccine and offers greater protection against other types of the virus.

In the Netherlands, children get their first of two shots against HPV in the year that they turn 10. The current HPV vaccine protects against two types of the virus. This virus, which can be transmitted through the skin or mouth of an infected person during sex, can cause cervical cancer and other forms of cancer. An estimated 1,100 women and 400 men develop cancer caused by HPV each year.

“Cervical cancer is 90 percent less common in women who have been vaccinated against HPV than in unvaccinated women. Severe precancerous lesions of cervical cancer are also 80 percent less common,” Tielen wrote. "This new vaccine achieves an even greater effect: it protects not against two, but against nine types of HPV. This means an even lower risk of cervical cancer, other forms of cancer, and their precancerous lesions.”

The new 9-valent vaccine will likely be included in the national vaccination program by the fall of 2026. According to Tielen, time is needed to get everything ready. “Three-quarters of the girls and half of the boys who are called up will get the vaccine,” Tielen said. “That involves thousands of vaccinations. We need to prepare thoroughly.”