Mendakota Pediatrics Vaccine Policy Statement
Vaccines save lives. Mendakota Pediatrics strongly recommends immunizations as the safest and most effective way of preventing disease, disability and death. We advocate for the on-time, routine immunization of all children and adolescents per the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Our ability to confidently provide such a strong recommendation is based on decades of broad national and international pediatric health care experience, data collection, and rigorous, well-designed studies of vaccine safety and efficacy.
Vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health intervention we perform as physicians and parents or caregivers.
We recognize that information, especially online and via social media, can be overwhelming and difficult to sort out. We have deep respect for your families and for the trust you place in us to care for your children. We know all parents truly want the best for their children, and we are here to support and guide you in those efforts. We know the decision to vaccinate may be an emotional one for some parents. As physicians and parents, ourselves, we know that vaccinating children on schedule is absolutely the right thing to do for our children and young adults. Should you have questions or concerns, please discuss these with us so we can have the opportunity to address them fully.
We recognize that there has always been and may always be controversy surrounding vaccination. Indeed, our founding father Benjamin Franklin was opposed to the smallpox vaccine until scientific data convinced him otherwise. Tragically, he delayed vaccinating his son, who contracted smallpox and died at the age of four years, leaving a lifetime of guilt and remorse. Quoting Mr. Franklin’s autobiography:
“In 1736, I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of 4 years old, by the smallpox . . . I long regretted bitterly and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents to omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive the results if the child died under it, my example showing that the regret may be the same either way and that therefore the safer should be chosen.”
The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective in preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of us have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis or even chickenpox, or have known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. Such success can make us complacent or hesitant about vaccinating. But such an attitude can only lead to tragic results.
Please know that when parents decline to vaccinate their children, they not only put their own children at risk, they also pose a danger to younger infants and children in our community who may not yet have been vaccinated. We remind you of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child.
Jennifer Gobel, MD | Matthew Straley, MD | Nicholas Lawson, MD | Nora Mulloy, DO | Samrie Beshah, MD Mendakota Pediatrics, Ltd. (Policy first implemented January 1, 2013; revised September 2025)