Adolescent Vaccine Consent: Exploring Philadelphia's Self-Consent Regulation for Teens (Episode 217)

In Philadelphia, a 2007 Board of Health regulation allows capable adolescents ages 11–18 to self-consent to vaccines that prevent reportable diseases, recognizing that teen vaccine coverage remains suboptimal in part due to access barriers and inconsistent uptake when decisions rest solely with parents. This episode explores how that policy works in practice and what it means for autonomy, equity, and public health.

We’re joined by Dr. Marva Schödel, co-author of a recent paper on adolescent vaccine self-consent, to unpack the real-world impact of this approach. This research was done with the Pediatric Research Consortium (PeRC), a primary care practice-based research network at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Schödel is, as of the time of publication, an employee of Merck, who manufactures the HPV vaccine, Gardasil 9.