 Gardasil Vaccine
Okay obviously it's irritating when someone types in all caps but I think it's an important thing that all young women should get. Gardasil is the new vaccine for HPV, or human papilloma virus. HPV is known to cause cervical cancer and genital warts. Gardasil covers FOUR strains of HPV (there are dozens more strains)-two that cause cervical cancer and two others that can cause genital warts. It is being recommended for girls/women ages 9-26. Now I know 9 seems very young, but the goal here is like any other vaccine-it's for protection when they do become sexually active-it doesn't mean your kid is going to start running around at the age of 9 (I only say that because of all the controversial stories I've read surrounding the vaccine).
My insurance (Anthem) said they cover it until age 26. I just turned 25, so I was covered. On the drug tier it was only $20 for me. Now I did call the pharmacy (CVS) before speaking to the insurance company and they said it was $180 with no insurance (ouch!). BUT, I told the nurse about it when I went to get the vaccine and she said that the health department covers girls to the age of 21 with NO insurance.
What happens is the doctor will write you the Rx and you have to pick it up from the pharmacy. It's in a vial and MUST BE REFRIGERATED. I stress the refrigeration because no one told us that at the pharmacy and there was nothing marked on the bag. I waited two days to get the vaccine and when I took it out of the bag that's when I saw the note about refrigeration on the box. If you ask me they should put a big red sticker on the bag saying KEEP REFRIGERATED. It's good for up to 72 hours at room temperature. After that it must be thrown away. Luckily I was within that time frame. Anywho, I had to make an appointment with my gyno to have the nurse "shoot me up" and they just filed an injection fee with my insurance company. I have another shot two months from now and the third and last shot *I think* 6 months after the second one (I have to double check that). I just thought this would be some helpful information for those considering it. Oh yeah, no side effects for me; I don't think there are many associated with the vaccine anyway.
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