NHS Grampian has launched a new vaccination programme to offer HPV jabs to first and second year pupils in Aberdeen
It comes as the usual plan to distribute the jab was scrapped due to school closures.
Now, the health board is to set up designated school clinics to ensure the delivery of HPV immunisations to boys and girls, despite the impact of Covid.
Parents will be sent an email via their school to book an appointment if their child is eligible with vaccinations set to start from today.
Schools across the country currently remain shut under the present lockdown restrictions.
For more information, people can visit NHS Inform or contact the Aberdeen city school immunisation team at nhsg.schoolimmunisationaberdeen@nhs.scot.
HPV vaccination in Scotland
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is offered to every secondary school pupils in Scotland.
This is because the evidence shows that the HPV vaccine helps protect both boys and girls from HPV-related cancers – including head and neck cancers, cervical cancer and anogenital cancers.
The jab is delivered at sexual health clinics and administered as a three-dose schedule as part of the Scottish HPV immunisation programme.
It is estimated that more than 70% of those who haven’t received the vaccine, will get the virus at some point in their life without experiencing any symptoms.
According to Public Health Scotland statistics, around two-thirds of the 2019-2020 HPV immunisation programme in Scotland was completed by the end of the school year.
However, these statistics are affected by the coronavirus outbreak as some health boards had not completed their planned vaccination sessions when schools closed in March last year.