Can I have sex while I'm receiving the Gardasil vaccination series?

Have you EVER had any sexual⁠ (sexual: About or relating in some way to sex or sexuality.) contact including sexual intercourse⁠ (intercourse: When people interlock their genitals and move together as feels good to them for the purpose of sexual stimulation and/or reproduction.) and dry sex⁠ (dry sex: A kind of sex where people have clothes on, but are pressing their genitals together. This can also be called frottage, grinding or dry humping.) with direct genital contact? And have you never been raped or experienced a sexual assault⁠ (sexual assault: When someone is attacked, or attacks someone else, in a sexual way.) that involved genitals⁠ (genitals: Body parts that are generally, culturally, scientifically or personally considered to be external sexual or reproductive organs.) coming in direct contact? If you have NEVER EVER NEVER experienced any of these things, then you are the ideal candidate for Gardasil because there is no chance that you would already have a strain of genital HPV⁠ (HPV: Human papillomavirus, a very common sexually transmitted infection with more than 40 HPV types.) .

If you are both virgins at the moment, then it is best if you totally abstained from genital contact until you have received all three shots of Gardasil. That way you have no risk of acquiring the four strains of HPV it protects against.

However if you have already had some genital contact, it makes little difference if you continue doing that while you are receiving the shots. That is because you have already been exposed to whatever your partner⁠ (partner: In a sexual context, a person with whom someone is having some kind of sex. The term “partner” can be used for all kinds of relationships, not just serious ones. “Partner” can also mean the person someone is with in a romantic or familial partnership.) may happen to be carrying (and to him, likewise).

My advice? Wait till you have had all three shots. And when you go in for that first shot, ask your doctor about going on birth control⁠ (birth control: Any number of methods people use to intentionally prevent unwanted pregnancy, including the condom, the cervical barrier, the implant, the patch, the pill, the rhythm method, the ring, the shot, the IUD, spermicide and withdrawal.) . That way you can start the birth control medications early and have them working for you by the time you finish the vaccination course. Get condoms, too. And read this with your boyfriend: Ready or Not? The Scarleteen Sex Readiness Checklist

And as an important nitpick, you aren’t being “treated for the virus.” that would mean you already have the virus and you are undergoing some kind of therapy to deal with it. No, you are going to be vaccinated, which is a preventive measure. When prevention is effective, then you will have no need for treatment.

More about Gardasil: The HPV Vaccine FAQ