Despite the doubts and tears, fifty-six girls from Mae’s took their Human papillomavirus (HPV) shots today at the institution. Parents and teachers were there to support the 10 to 13-year-old girls.
Some of the students spoke with the Department of Public Information (DPI) after receiving their vaccine. Alyssa Singh 11, Sara Singh 10, Ciara Bathya 10 and Maninesha Alli all described the inoculations “as a mosquito bite and a little pinch”.
Parents, Debbie Singh, Natasha Ally and Matignol Saint-Lot, all expressed satisfaction that their children have been immunized. They also encouraged more parents (from the school) to fill out the necessary forms so their children can be vaccinated.
Medex Carleen Howard-Mohabir told (DPI) that the nurses have been trained to calm and reassure the girls who may be scared. She added that support is vital to the girls and expressed satisfaction that parents had accompanied the girls.
Mohabir noted that the Ministry intends to extend the age group so that more persons can access the vaccine.
The HPV campaign is part of the Ministry of Public Health’s plan to control the number of cervical cancer cases. Upon the recommendation of a technical group, the campaign will target girls nine to 16 years of age. The end goal is to achieve ninety percent coverage of the target population.
