Citation: Walkowiak, M.P.; Domaradzki, J.; Walkowiak, D. Are We Facing a Tsunami of Vaccine Hesitancy or Outdated Pandemic Policy in Times of Omicron? Analyzing Changes of COVID-19 Vaccination Trends in Poland. Vaccines 2023, 11, 1065. https:// doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11061065 Academic Editors: Francisco Javier Pérez-Rivas and María Julia Ajejas Bazán Received: 10 May 2023 Revised: 28 May 2023 Accepted: 3 June 2023 Published: 5 June 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article Are We Facing a Tsunami of Vaccine Hesitancy or Outdated Pandemic Policy in Times of Omicron? Analyzing Changes of COVID-19 Vaccination Trends in Poland Marcin Piotr Walkowiak 1, * , Jan Domaradzki 2 and Dariusz Walkowiak 3 1 Department of Preventive Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Pozna ´ n, Poland 2 Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-806 Pozna ´ n, Poland 3 Department of Organization and Management in Health Care, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-356 Pozna ´ n, Poland * Correspondence: marcinwalkowiak@ump.edu.pl; Tel.: +48-61-854-65-77 Abstract: In this study, we analyzed Polish COVID-19 vaccination data until January 2023 from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to understand individual decision making during the milder Omicron wave. Our findings show a general decline in subsequent vaccine uptake. As the number of government-provided doses increased, completion rates among certain low-risk groups dropped to less than 1%. Elderly individuals, especially those aged 70–79, showed greater adherence but also exhibited decreased interest in subsequent boosters. Healthcare workers exhibited a dramatic shift in their attitude, disregarding the recommended schedule. The overwhelming majority opted out of receiving the second boosters, while the remaining individuals adjusted their timing based on infection trends or the availability of updated boosters. Two factors positively influenced vaccination decisions: societal influence and the availability of updated boosters. Lower- risk individuals were more likely to postpone vaccination until updated boosters were available. Our findings highlight that while Polish policy aligns with international guidelines, it fails to garner significant adherence from the Polish population. Previous studies have shown that vaccinating low-risk groups resulted in more sick days due to adverse events following immunization than the days gained by preventing infection. Consequently, we advocate for the official abandonment of this policy, as its practical abandonment has already taken place, and persisting in pretending otherwise only serves to erode public trust. Therefore, we propose a shift toward treating COVID-19-like influenza with vaccination for vulnerable individuals and those who have close contact with them before the season. Keywords: COVID-19; vaccination; vaccination coverage; trust in vaccine; social capital; public health; vaccine hesitancy 1. Introduction Since the first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection was reported in Poland on 4 March 2020 [1], the government has implemented various public health interventions and control measures, such as the use of personal protective equipment, sanitizers, social distancing, extensive testing, isolation, quarantine and lockdown, to protect the health of Polish citizens and prevent the spread of the virus [2]. Meanwhile, since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic on 11 March 2020, scientists, the biotechnological industry and pharmaceutical companies worldwide have been working tirelessly to produce effec- tive vaccines against the novel coronavirus. Through intense collaboration, Pfizer BioNTech developed the first COVID-19 vaccine, which was conditionally approved by the European Medicines Agency on 21 December 2020, a year after the first reported case of COVID-19. Vaccines 2023, 11, 1065. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11061065 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines