This opportunity for public input is part of a major federal effort to re-examine vaccine policy caused in part by declining public confidence in vaccines,
increasing mistrust and skepticism of CDC, increased use of exemptions and “alternative” schedules,
concerns raised by pediatricians reflecting significantly increased parental uncertainty about both the safety and benefits of vaccines,
and recent public actions such as Jenny McCarthy's/Jim Carey's Green Our Vaccines rally at the Capitol last June,
calls by prominent scientists such as Bernadine Healy for improved safety science especially with respect to autism,
and the Government's concession in February, 2008, in the Poling case that vaccines can cause autism.