Just two days after the state hit the pause button on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, health leaders are now concerned that it could lead to potentially more vaccine hesitancy. Forsyth County Public Health Director Joshua Swift said the department started to see a slow down in vaccine appointments starting the week of Easter as numbers of COVID-19 cases are now starting to slowly tick up in the state. “So we are concerned that people that were already hesitant that have heard this news may become more hesitant,” Swift said. Forsyth County Public Health Director Joshua Swift is referring to a recent decision by the state to pause all Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines as federal officials investigate six cases of rare blood clots that were found in women after they had received the vaccine. So far nearly seven million doses have been administered in the U.S.“I would just encourage people to you know this is one person in a million who got these rare blood clots and out of an abundance of caution we are pausing and letting the CDC and the ACIP study this situation so they can provide further guidance,” Swift said.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data estimates the percentage of vaccine hesitancy rates in the United States.In Forsyth County and Guilford County, the percentage is at 18%. In Stokes, Rockingham and Caswell counties that number is at 20% and throughout the Piedmont Triad the number hovers between 18% and 20%. Back in Forsyth County, Swift says some of that hesitancy is coming from younger folks. His message to them: “I am really calling on young adults to get the vaccine not only for the protection and you may not need it as much because you are young and healthy but you don’t know who you are going to come in contact with and also it will help out economy and allow us to fully reopen,” he said.The CDC met this week to discuss the future of the J&J vaccine. They decided it'll remain on hold while they continue to investigate. Swift said for now, their Johnson& Johnson doses are being stored in freezers and they have a shelf life until late June.