No more HPV shot for green-card seekers

DALLAS (AP) - Immigrant girls and women will no longer have to be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus to get their green cards.

Girls and women seeking to become legal permanent U.S. residents were required to get at least the first dose of the vaccine against the human papilloma virus, a sexually transmitted virus which can cause cervical cancer. The virus infects up to 80 of women at some point in their lives and, in most cases, has no symptoms.

A coalition of immigrant, health and women advocates worked to get the July 2008 requirement reversed.

Starting Dec. 14, the HPV vaccine will no longer be on the list of immunizations immigrants must receive before getting their green card. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the change on Friday.