On April 13, 2021, the CDC announced that the administration of Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine would be paused due to a rare blood clotting side effect in ~0.0001% of people given the vaccine. Most people who are hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine list potential side effects as their main concern (PEW, 2021); thus, it is likely that this announcement increased vaccine hesitancy among the American public. Two days after the CDC’s announcement, we administered a survey to a group of 2,046 Americans to assess their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines. The aim of this study was to investigate best practices for communicating information about the risk of side effects to the public. We found that the use of icon arrays to illustrate the small chance of experiencing the blood clotting side effect greatly decreased reported aversion toward the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as well as all other COVID-19 vaccines.