The dates Year 8 pupils will receive their HPV vaccine to protect them from certain cancers
14 February 2024
Secondary school pupils aged 12 and 13 are set to receive an important vaccine in the coming weeks to protect them from several types of cancer.
The Cardiff and Vale School Nursing Immunisation Team will be offering the HPV vaccination to children in Year 8, along with those in Year 9, 10 and 11 who missed out in Year 8.
The human papillomavirus, or HPV for short, is the name given to a group of more than 100 viruses that are usually passed on through skin-to-skin contact.
Most people who become infected with HPV will clear the virus from their body and won’t become unwell, but for others it can cause genital warts or even develop into some forms of cancer, including cervical cancer in women and head and neck cancers that are most common in men.
HPV infection is thought to cause around 5% of all cancers worldwide, and more than 95% of cervical cancer is caused by sexually-transmitted HPV. HPV also usually has no symptoms, which is why it’s so easy to pass on as the person infected doesn’t know they have it.
The HPV vaccination delivered in schools is safe and highly effective at reducing the risk of getting HPV, and it’s administered by trained nursing immunisation professionals in one injection in the upper arm.
Since it was introduced in 2008, the vaccine has reduced cervical cancer rates by almost 90% in women in their 20s.It is expected that the vaccine will eventually save thousands of lives each year across the UK.
The Cardiff and Vale School Nursing Immunisation Team will be visiting secondary schools on the following dates:
6 February - Whitchurch High School
7 February - Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg
9 February - St John's College
9 February - St Illtyd's Catholic High School
20 February - Cardiff High
21 February - Stanwell School
22 February - Greenhill School
22 February - Bryn y Deryn / Carnegie
22 February - Nyth y Deryn
23 February - Ysgol Plasmawr
27 February - Willows High School
28 February - St Teilos Church in Wales High School
28 February - Ely Presbyterian
28 February - Tŷ Gwyn (day 1)
5 March - Ysgol y Deri (day 1)
6 March - Ysgol Glantaf
7 March - Cathays High
12 March - Llanishen High
13 March - Cardiff West Community High School
13 March - Tŷ Gwyn (day 2)
14 March - Eastern High
19 March - Cantonian High
20 March - Ysgol Bro Edern
21 March - Pencoedtre High
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EASTER BREAK
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9 April - St Cyres School
10 April - Corpus Christi Catholic High School
12 April - Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School
16 April - Derw Newydd
16 April - Headlands School
16 April - Westbourne School
17 April - Cowbridge Comprehensive School
18 April - The Cathedral School (date subject to change)
23 April - Fitzalan High (date subject to change)
25 April - Whitmore High
25 April - Ysgol y Deri (day 2)
30 April - Llantwit Major School
1 May - Radyr Comprehensive School
1 May - Tŷ Gwyn (day 3)
8 May - Kings Monkton
8 May - Eastward House (date subject to change)
9 May - St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School
10 May - Woodlands High
15 May - Tŷ Coryton
15 May - Craig y Parc (date subject to change)
21 May - Ysgol y Deri (day 3)
22 May - Cardiff Steiner School
23 May - Red Rose School
As with any other vaccine, there are often some mild side-effects including a sore arm or headache that go away very quickly. For those who can’t receive it at school, there will be community catch-up clinics across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.