Federal Health officials said 25 % of teenage girls have been vaccinated with the new vaccine Gardasil, against cervical cancer last year in its first full year of distribution. Gardasil, by Merck & Company protects against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV that cause about 70 % of cervical cancers.  

The CDC says the vaccination rate for a new vaccine is very good. Lance Rodewald, director of the division of immunization services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "For a new vaccine, 25% is really very good. We need to see that rate every year if we are going to meet our goal" of having 90% of teenagers vaccinated,” he said.

Saying the vaccine could significantly reduce cervical cancer deaths proponents of the vaccine feel the number vaccinated needed to be much higher. Immunologist W. Martin Kast of USC's Keck School of Medicine said, "Twenty-five percent is not bad, but it's not good either." Latina teens had a higher frequency of infections and data by Merck & Co. showed that only 1 % of them were receiving the vaccine, "they are the population that needs it the most."

The data, published in CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, was collected from the second year of the agency's annual National Immunization Survey for Teens. Researchers conducted telephone interviews with nearly 3,000 teens ages 13 to 17, and confirmed their answers with vaccination records from physicians.

Patti E. Gravitt, a Johns Hopkins University associate professor of epidemiology, said caution regarding the safety of the vaccine could have held some families back. The cost of $375 could be another deterrent as booster shots could also be required.           

Some scientists have criticized the vaccine saying it’s only modestly effective and that its safety has not been adequately proven. Conservative groups feel giving the vaccine to young girls could imply approval of sexual activity. “Some parents may be adopting the attitude with their daughters that, ‘Well, you’re still young; I can wait a couple more years before you’re sexually active,’ ” said Dr. Gravitt, who was not involved in the research.

Merck officials said sales were down 9 % in the second quarter.