Sridhar Vembu took to X (formerly Twitter) to express scepticism over administering the HPV vaccine to young girls. To substantiate his stance, he even listed three-point “facts” stating that since HPV is sexually transmitted, vaccinating young girls doesn’t make sense to him. He acknowledged that his opinion on the vaccine may harm his business or dent his image, but he, nonetheless, felt compelled to share his views. His “don’t let doctors who think I am science-illiterate shout this down” met with a lot of criticism online.

Vembu’s views on the HPV vaccine

Before we look at the criticism, let us see what Vembu wrote on his social media post.

Vembu shared a news report from Bihar claiming that 30–35 female students fainted after receiving the HPV vaccine. He used the incident to

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