Fewer Hartlepool schoolgirls getting anti-cancer jab than before pandemic outbreak

HPV vaccine uptake has fallen significantly from pre-pandemic levels in the town, says the UK Health Security Agency.

Girls in England are offered free HPV jabs at school during years 8 and 9.

The vaccination protects against the human papilloma virus, which is responsible for most cervical cancer cases and some other rarer cancers.

The data shows 40.4% of Year 9 girls in Hartlepool had both HPV jabs in the 2021-22 academic year – meaning 345 of the 579 girls in the cohort were not fully vaccinated.

The jab rate was down from 60.6% the year before and below pre-pandemic levels in 2018-19 when uptake was at 77.8%.

Nationally, about 67.3% of year 9 girls were fully vaccinated last year.

Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust chief executive, Samantha Dixon, said cases of cervical cancer have fallen 87% in vaccinated women and added: “This progress cannot be lost."