Is gardasil available yet? Also, is the absolute cut off age 26?

Question

Also, will insurance cover the shot?

Answer 1

No it's not out yet. I've heard late fall. And, no, I have not heard about any cut off age. The trials they have done were for women aged 9-26 (maybe that's where you heard the age 26 from). I'm pretty sure you can get it at any age, they just recommend young girls getting it, hoping to have them vaccinated before they have sex.

Also, many insurances should cover the vaccine. You'll have to check with your specific insurance before you get it.

Many doctors and Merck (the company manufacturing the vaccine) also recommend women who already have HPV to get the vaccine. The vaccine targets 4 strains of the virus (2 that cause cervical cancer and 2 that cause genital warts). Most people are not infected with all 4 of those strains, so they recommend all women to get the vaccine hoping to prevent getting any of those 4 kinds of HPV.
http://www.cdc.gov/std/hpv/STDFact-HPV-vaccine.htm