Vaccine recommendations are based on more than just safety. Efficacy, cost, availability, and prioritization are also considerations.
> Compared with the benefit of the existing HPV vaccination program for adolescents and young adults through age 26 years, the additional benefit of vaccinating people age 27 through 45 years would be minimal.
> Given abundant evidence for safety of HPV vaccines, undesirable anticipated effects are minimal. Also, anticipated population-level benefits are minimal for vaccinating adults over age 26 years. In this scenario, other considerations including cost-effectiveness play an important role in guiding policy-making.
> There’s not a safety issue past age 45. We just aren’t sure how much the vaccine will help men and women who are past that age, because so many of us have acquired HPV by that point, and because it takes many years for cancer to develop after acquiring the virus. However, as the average life expectancy increases, it may benefit the population to increase the age limit for HPV vaccination as well.
> Compared with the benefit of the existing HPV vaccination program for adolescents and young adults through age 26 years, the additional benefit of vaccinating people age 27 through 45 years would be minimal.
> Given abundant evidence for safety of HPV vaccines, undesirable anticipated effects are minimal. Also, anticipated population-level benefits are minimal for vaccinating adults over age 26 years. In this scenario, other considerations including cost-effectiveness play an important role in guiding policy-making.
https://www.cdc.gov/acip/evidence-to-recommendations/HPV-adu...
Elsewhere:
> There’s not a safety issue past age 45. We just aren’t sure how much the vaccine will help men and women who are past that age, because so many of us have acquired HPV by that point, and because it takes many years for cancer to develop after acquiring the virus. However, as the average life expectancy increases, it may benefit the population to increase the age limit for HPV vaccination as well.
https://www.mskcc.org/news/think-you-re-too-old-get-hpv-vacc...