Simone Davis, a 17 year-old British girl has been denied US permanent residency because she refused to take the Gardasil vaccine, which protects against a few strains of HPV and reduces the risk of cervical cancer. Since 2008, the US government has required that female immigrants between the ages of 11 to 26 applying for permanent residency or refugee status receive Gardasil, which was approved by the FDA in 2006. According to the 1996 Immigration and Naturalization Act girls and women within a specified age group must receive vaccinations against certain specified diseases “and any other vaccinations recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. Said Davis, “I am only 17 years old and planning to go to college and not have sex anytime soon. There is no chance of getting cervical cancer, so there’s no point in getting the shot.” A devout Christian, Simone has taken a virginity pledge and plans to attend Pensacola Christian College, where she was conditionally accepted, pending her legal status. The vaccine is not mandated for girls or women who are already legal US residents. [via ABC News]
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.