Safety of the intervention
As of the end of 2024, more than 700 million doses of HPV vaccine have been distributed since licensure in 2006.Go to footnote 1, Go to footnote 2, Go to footnote 3
Post-licensure surveillance has detected no serious safety issues to date, aside from rare reports of anaphylaxis. The risk of anaphylaxis has been characterized as approximately 1.7 cases per million doses.Go to footnote 4
A systematic review of studies on the safety of HPV vaccines found little to no difference in serious adverse events among recipients of bivalent, quadrivalent and nonavalent HPV vaccines.Go to footnote 5
- Go back to footnote reference 1
World Health Organization. Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety: human papillomavirus vaccines. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/groups/global-advisory-committee-on-vaccine-safety/topics/human-papillomavirus-vaccines, accessed 24 June 2026).
- Go back to footnote reference 2
World Health Organization (2025). Global vaccine market report 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/2025-who-global-vaccine-market-report, accessed 17 July 2025).
- Go back to footnote reference 3
Henschke N, Bergman H, Buckley BS, Crosbie EJ, Dwan K, et al. Effects of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programmes on community rates of HPV-related disease and harms from vaccination. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2025; Issue 11. Art. No.: CD015363. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD015363.pub2
- Go back to footnote reference 4
World Health Organization (2017). HPV vaccine: rates of adverse events following immunization. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/hpv-vaccine-rates-information-sheet , accessed 24 June 2026)
- Go back to footnote reference 5
Human papillomavirus vaccines: Safety topic page. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022 (https://www.who.int/groups/global-advisory-committee-on-vaccine-safety/topics/human-papillomavirus-vaccines/safety, accessed 24 June 2026).
