"The outgoing year has posed many challenges for us," Andrzej Duda said in a New Year's address on Friday, as quoted in English.
He added that 2021 was "yet another year of our struggle with the coronavirus pandemic which gravely affected our everyday life and changed our lifestyle."
He told the nation that the pandemic "weighed heavily on people’s health here in Poland" and took many lives.
"I wish to express my profound sympathy to those bereaved in the pandemic," Duda said in his message.
"In Poland, as in many other European countries, there are still new infections," he added, noting that many people were still ending up in hospitals.
"From the bottom of my heart, I thank the thousands of doctors, nurses and paramedics who are also at this moment fighting for the health and life of many of our compatriots," he said, praising them for their "enormous effort and dedication."
"At the same time, I would like to reiterate my appeal to everyone who has not yet done so: let us get vaccinated," he told the nation.
He stressed in his message that "the Polish state has provided vaccines for everyone who wants to benefit from this opportunity."
"Everybody can be vaccinated with the first, second and now also with the third booster dose," he said, urging Poles to "take advantage of this opportune occasion to protect our own life and health, but also the health of others."
"It is up to us how quickly we defeat the pandemic," Duda also said in his New Year's address, which was posted on his website on Friday evening.
A total of 46,962,321 coronavirus vaccine shots have been administered in Poland so far, including 157,121 over the last 24 hours, officials announced on Friday.
Public health authorities on Friday reported 13,601 new coronavirus infections and 638 more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the country's total number of cases during the pandemic to 4,108,215 and fatalities to 97,054.
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Source: PAP, TVP, prezydent.pl