Vol. 73/No. 18      May 11, 2009

Under a 1996 immigration law, any vaccination recommended by the U.S. government for its citizens becomes a requirement for anyone seeking permanent residency. The Centers for Disease Control made this recommendation after use of Gardasil was approved in 2006. U.S. citizens may opt out of the vaccine requirement on moral, religious, or medical grounds.

The three-shot series costs $360. According to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonprofit group that studies the migration of populations, U.S. naturalization fees are already among the highest in the world. A family of four has to pay $2,430 to become naturalized citizens. If a family has one or more daughters and doesn't have health insurance the costs become higher.

Priscilla Huang, policy and program director at the National Association of Pacific American Women’s Forum, told the Wall Street Journal, “Given the controversy over the vaccine’s effectiveness and adverse side effects, mandating the vaccine for immigrant women is premature and is arguably equivalent to using them as test subjects.”

There is much debate over the effectiveness and necessity of this vaccine. The pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., maker of the HPV vaccine, stands to gain billions of dollars in profits as its use becomes more widely required. So far 41 states have introduced legislation and 19 have passed laws that “require, fund and educate” families about the vaccine.
 
 
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