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Nov. 20 (NBD) -- South China's Shenzhen has started a new lottery system for reservations of Gardasil 9, a 9-valent human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, as it is in short supply.

Gardasil 9 vaccine, supplied by U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co Inc, helps protect females aged 9 to 26 years from infection with nine types of HPVs.

In April this year, the vaccine was approved to enter mainland China. Later from August, Shenzhen's hospitals began to provide vaccination service for Gardasil 9.

The three shots only cost 3,969 yuan (573 U.S. dollars) in Shenzhen, far cheaper than 7,000 to 10,000 yuan (1,010 to 1,443 U.S. dollars) in Hong Kong.

The city's health authority opened the online reservations on September 7, with its website receiving over 3.6 million daily page views, and the number surpassed 9 million in October.

The exclusive agent of Gardasil 9 in mainland China revealed that 6,022 doses of the vaccines were approved in the first half of this year, but the number jumped to over 100,000 doses as of mid-August.

However, such supply still fails to satisfy the surging demands for the vaccine. The appointment website crashes frequently due to excessive traffic flow.

By using lottery system, Shenzhen's authority seeks to give more citizens a chance for vaccination.

The first round of vaccine lottery with 1,305 reservations is scheduled to be unveiled on November 26, and the system will hold a lottery every month.

Before introduction of Gardasil 9, Cervarix and Gardasil that are indicated for prevention of diseases caused by two and four HPV types, respectively, have been available in China. Though Cervarix is fully stocked and Gardasil is much easier to be reserved, Gardasil 9 is still being sought after.

There is a misunderstanding that Gardasil 9 is 4.5 times and 1.3 times more effective than Cervarix and Gardasil, respectively, in preventing cervical disease. But in fact, the latter two vaccines provide 84 percent protection against cervical cancers and the former offered 92 percent, vaccine expert Tao Lina told NBD.

He further held Cervarix vaccination is cost-effective, as it has advantages of lasting effect and outstanding antibody response to the major cancer-causing HPV types.

Routine cervical screening is still recommended regardless of whether a person has taken any vaccine, Tao added.

According to the National Cancer Institute, all three vaccines can prevent infection with HPV types 16 and 18, two high-risk HPVs that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers and an even higher percentage of some other HPV-caused cancers.

In China, Cervarix is found to be 84.5 percent effective in cervical cancer prevention. Thus this type of vaccine can greatly meet the needs of those who ask for the prevention.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn