Yes, men can get the HPV vaccine, and it’s routinely recommended for them. The CDC recommends HPV vaccination for boys at age 11 or 12, with catch-up vaccination available through age 26 for anyone who wasn’t vaccinated earlier. Men between 27 and 45 may also be eligible, though the decision involves a conversation with a healthcare provider.
Why HPV Vaccination Matters for Men
HPV causes roughly 22,800 cancers in men each year in the United States. The most common is oropharyngeal cancer, which affects the back of the throat, base of the tongue, and tonsils. About 18,800 of these cancers are diagnosed annually in men, and roughly 72% of them (around 13,600 cases) are directly caused by HPV. Anal cancer accounts for another 2,600 cases in men per year, with 89% linked to HPV. Penile cancer adds about 900 HPV-caused cases annually.
Beyond cancer, HPV is the primary cause of genital warts. In clinical trials, the vaccine showed efficacy exceeding 89% against genital warts and 91% to 93% against precancerous anal lesions in men who hadn’t previously been exposed to the virus. These numbers make a strong case for vaccination before sexual activity begins, which is why the recommendation starts so young.
Recommended Ages and Dosing Schedule
The standard recommendation is to start HPV vaccination at age 11 or 12, though it can begin as early as 9. Children who receive their first dose before age 15 need only two shots. Anyone who starts the series at 15 or older needs three doses, spaced at zero, two, and six months.
If you’re a man between 13 and 26 who never got vaccinated or didn’t complete the full series, catch-up vaccination is still recommended. This is the age window where the vaccine provides the most benefit, since fewer people have been exposed to all the HPV strains the vaccine covers.
Options for Men Over 26
HPV vaccination is not routinely recommended after age 26, but it’s not off the table either. The CDC uses a framework called shared clinical decision-making for adults aged 27 through 45, meaning you and your provider weigh whether vaccination makes sense for your specific situation.
Several factors influence that conversation. The vaccine works best in people who haven’t been exposed to HPV yet, and most sexually active adults have encountered at least some HPV strains by their late 20s. Men with fewer previous sexual partners are more likely to benefit, since they may not have been exposed. A new sexual partner at any age creates risk for a new HPV infection. On the other hand, men who’ve had many partners have likely already encountered the virus, which lowers the potential benefit of vaccination. One modeling study estimated that extending vaccination to men aged 27 to 45 would prevent only about 29% of HPV-related throat cancers compared to vaccinating younger men.
It’s also worth noting that the vaccine prevents new infections but does not treat or clear HPV you already have.
Cost and Insurance Coverage
For men 26 and under, the HPV vaccine is free with most health insurance plans. The Affordable Care Act requires coverage of routinely recommended vaccines without cost-sharing, so if you’re in the catch-up age group and have insurance, you likely won’t pay anything out of pocket.
After age 26, things get more complicated. Because the vaccine falls under shared clinical decision-making rather than a routine recommendation, insurance coverage varies. The vaccine can cost several hundred dollars without coverage. If you’re uninsured regardless of age, cost-saving programs do exist to help cover the expense.
Side Effects
The HPV vaccine has been extensively monitored since its introduction. The most common side effects are mild: pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site, along with occasional headache, fever, nausea, or muscle and joint soreness. Some teens and young adults feel dizzy or faint after the shot, which is a known reaction to injections in general rather than something specific to this vaccine.
Large safety studies have found no link between the HPV vaccine and serious conditions like blood clots, stroke, seizures, or Guillain-Barré syndrome.
How Vaccinating Men Protects Everyone
When enough people in a population are vaccinated, the virus has fewer hosts to circulate through, creating what’s known as herd protection. This matters because not everyone can be vaccinated, and not everyone responds fully to the vaccine. In Australia, which achieved high vaccination coverage among girls early on, researchers documented large declines in genital wart diagnoses among unvaccinated young men within just five years of the female-only vaccination program. A broader analysis found that in countries with at least 50% female vaccination coverage, genital wart diagnoses in young men dropped by more than half compared to rates before vaccination began.
A striking example comes from Denmark, where researchers found essentially zero infections with the four main vaccine-targeted HPV strains among unvaccinated men aged 18 to 20 a decade after the country began vaccinating girls. Out of 369 unvaccinated men tested, only two had infections with those strains, and both had male sexual partners (who wouldn’t benefit from female-only herd protection). Mathematical models predict that when both boys and girls are vaccinated at 80% coverage, complete elimination of the targeted HPV strains becomes possible.
For men who have sex with men, direct vaccination is especially important. Herd effects from female vaccination programs don’t extend to them in the same way, making individual vaccination their primary source of protection against HPV-related anal and throat cancers.