Vaccine hesitancy has been particularly pronounced in central and eastern Europe, with some experts attributing it to decades of Communist rule that eroded public trust in state institutions and left underdeveloped healthcare systems.
"Poland is the country with relatively the lowest willingness to get vaccinated in Europe, and this was evident from flu vaccinations," Niedzielski said.
The country has been grappling with a consistently high number of daily COVID-19 cases. Although it has not reported a rise in cases caused by the Omicron variant of the virus, it imposed new restrictions in December to curb the spread of infection.
As of Monday, the health ministry estimates that the Omicron variant accounted for between 7 per cent and 8 per cent of new daily cases.
Poland reported around 11,406 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and 493 deaths related to the disease.
Poland reported 794 COVID-19 related deaths in one day in late December, while the highest daily toll during the pandemic overall stands at 954, hit in April last year.
Artmotion Asia
