Epidemic surges don’t happen instantaneously. Even if you didn’t get the vaccine at all, and didn’t follow any of the guidelines, there’s still a fairly high chance that you’d luck out and not catch the disease, even four weeks into a surge.
Without the vaccine, but with other reasonable precautions, that chance of lucking out is higher.
And with the vaccine, even in the time frame before you’re considered “fully vaccinated”, it’ll still provide partial protection.
Starting a vaccine right at the start of a surge isn’t a guarantee of protection. But it definitely, unambiguously, improves your odds.
I would. I have two teenage girls and odds are pretty good that at least one of the them will engage in heterosexual activity. Not giving them a vaccine that will prevent them from getting some kinds of cervical cancer range from irresponsible on one end of the spectrum to down right negligent.
About the HPV vaccine: I highly recommend it for girls AND boys, but I don’t think it should be mandatory except for legal sex workers.
Even if a person does not engage in sexual activity, there’s always the risk of rape or molestation, and HPV can certainly be transmitted that way too.
Yep. That’s a reason that HPV is implicated in oral and throat cancers as well as cervical (which activity, strictly speaking, is neither hetero- or homosexual, it’s just oral sex)
Really, all teens should be getting vaccinated against HPV, boy, girl, or non-binary.
It’s too late for vaccination to stop the surge, as it’s already here. But it’s never too late for you personally to protect yourself and those you come in contact with.
The one place where you can be sure everyone is doing their utmost to prevent transmission are the vaccine clinics and such. And you won’t be there long. Get the first shot and then keep yourself as safe as you can, and then get the second and wait for it to kick in.
(I have no advice about the J&J vaccine. I don’t really see it offered much anymore.)