science outreach

I got the third and final HPV vaccine injection this morning (it's now covered by insurance, so only costs $25, instead of $150, like the first two). After I said I was a grad student in a program based at the med school, the nurse made conversation by talking about how she's dubious about the vaccine because it's so new and who knows what the long term effects could be. She was worried about whether you could get the virus from the vaccine and she'd also heard that they put aluminium in it, which sounded alarming.
I tried to reassure her that they have to do a lot of testing before it could be approved, that it doesn't contain the actual virus, just some parts of it, and that alum is in most (all?) vaccines and is unlikely to cause any harm. I'm not sure how much she believed me, though, and I didn't have any real argument for why I don't think long term adverse effects are likely (I just don't see how an immune response to viral proteins could go terribly wrong. Maybe you could get an autoimmune response to similar-looking self proteins, but that could also happen if you're infected with the virus, so I'd rather have immunity).
I'm assuming she doesn't raise these concerns with most patients, but I was glad I knew how the vaccine worked, and therefore didn't start worrying that I might get HPV. It's disappointing that people who ask her for advice as a professional (she mentioned that she didn't know what to tell parents when they asked if their daughters should get the vaccine) might have their fears validated, rather than getting accurate information. Although, hopefully, she would refer them to someone who knew more about it.