Yes, you can still get HPV after being vaccinated. The current vaccine protects against nine specific strains of HPV, but more than 200 genotypes exist. That means the vaccine is highly effective at preventing the strains most likely to cause cancer and genital warts, but it doesn’t cover every version of the virus you might encounter.
What the Vaccine Covers
The vaccine distributed in the United States, Gardasil 9, targets HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. Types 16 and 18 alone cause the majority of HPV-related cancers, and types 6 and 11 cause about 90% of genital warts. The remaining five types in the vaccine (31, 33, 45, 52, and 58) are responsible for a significant share of the remaining cervical cancers. Together, these nine strains account for the vast majority of serious HPV-related disease.
But with over 200 HPV genotypes circulating, the vaccine leaves many strains unaddressed. Most of those uncovered strains are low-risk and clear on their own without causing symptoms or health problems. Still, some high-risk types not included in the vaccine can occasionally contribute to abnormal cell changes.
How Likely Is Infection After Vaccination
When researchers compared vaccinated and unvaccinated young women between ages 20 and 26, the prevalence of low-risk non-vaccine HPV types was essentially the same in both groups (about 38%). That makes sense: the vaccine was never designed to stop those strains.
Initially, vaccinated women appeared to have a slightly higher rate of high-risk non-vaccine types (52% vs. 40%). But once researchers accounted for differences in sexual behavior, that gap largely disappeared. The most likely explanation is that vaccinated women in the study had more sexual partners on average, which increased their exposure to strains the vaccine doesn’t target. The vaccine itself doesn’t make you more susceptible to other HPV types.
For the nine strains it does target, the vaccine is remarkably effective. Women vaccinated before their first sexual encounter saw an 89% reduction in HPV 16/18 prevalence, dropping it to less than 1%. Even those vaccinated after becoming sexually active saw a 41% reduction. The timing matters because if you’ve already been exposed to a strain, the vaccine can’t clear that existing infection.
The Vaccine Prevents, Not Treats
HPV vaccines work by training your immune system to recognize the outer shell of the virus. The vaccine contains virus-like particles, which are protein structures that look like HPV on the outside but carry no viral DNA inside. They can’t infect you or give you HPV. Your body produces antibodies against these particles, and those antibodies stand ready to neutralize the real virus if you’re exposed later.
This is purely preventive. If you already have an active HPV infection when you get vaccinated, the vaccine won’t help your body clear it faster. Research has confirmed this directly: vaccination showed no impact on the clearance rate of existing HPV infections, whether those infections matched the vaccine strains or not. The immune response generated by the vaccine works at the point of entry, blocking the virus before it establishes itself in your cells. Once an infection is already established, a different type of immune response is needed.
This is why vaccination before any sexual contact provides the strongest protection. It’s also why the recommended schedule starts early: two doses given six to twelve months apart for those who begin vaccination between ages 9 and 14, and three doses for anyone starting at age 15 or older.
Protection Beyond Cervical Cancer
HPV doesn’t only cause cervical cancer. The same high-risk strains are responsible for cancers of the anus, throat, vulva, vagina, and penis. The vaccine’s protection extends to these areas too. In clinical trials, the vaccine reduced precancerous anal lesions caused by the targeted HPV types by about 78% in the per-protocol population. Among men who have sex with men, a group at particularly elevated risk of anal cancer, the vaccine reduced high-grade precancerous anal changes by roughly 75%.
This broader protection is significant because there are no routine screening programs for most of these cancers the way Pap smears screen for cervical cancer. For anal, throat, and other HPV-related cancers, the vaccine serves as the primary line of defense.
How Long Protection Lasts
Clinical trial data and follow-up studies show that vaccine protection lasts more than 10 years with no sign of weakening over time. The CDC notes that no data suggest the protection fades, and research is ongoing to track durability even further. At this point, there is no recommendation for booster doses.
Why Screening Still Matters
Because the vaccine doesn’t cover every cancer-causing HPV strain, cervical cancer screening remains important even for vaccinated women. Current U.S. guidelines recommend the same screening intervals regardless of vaccination status. Modeling studies have shown that vaccinated women could safely undergo fewer lifetime screenings while maintaining the same level of cancer protection, but guidelines haven’t yet been updated to reflect this.
In practical terms, if you’ve been vaccinated, you’re well protected against the strains most likely to cause serious disease. But you’re not immune to every HPV type. Routine screening catches the rare cases where a non-vaccine strain causes abnormal cell changes, giving you a safety net that works alongside the vaccine rather than being replaced by it.