COVID-19 Vaccination in Children: Lessons Learned From Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

As of February 2022, nearly 11.4 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began [1]. As Omicron variant cases explode nationwide, this raises future questions for schools managing the ever evolving COVID-19 landscape. Vaccination can mitigate potential long-term effects of COVID-19 among infected children [2]. However, as of February 2022 only 55% of children aged 12-17 years are fully vaccinated [2]. Adolescent vaccines, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) vac-cine, provide lessons learned for COVID-19 vaccination in chil-dren. This article describes similarities and differences between HPV and COVID-19 vaccines and discusses implications of suc-cessful strategies that increased adolescent HPV vaccination for ongoing efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination in children (Table 1).