The tiny Pacific nation of Palau has the world's highest percentage of people vaccinated against Covid-19, the Red Cross has said, urging the country's laggard neighbours to follow its example and step up inoculation efforts.

According to a Reuters report, the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) said 99 per cent of Palau's population over 12 has had both shots of vaccine for the coronavirus, citing government figures which also show that this amounts to 16,152 people.

That puts Palau, an archipelago of 500 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, in the “top spot”, the IFRC said in a statement, ahead of countries like Portugal which was named one of the world's most vaccinated countries when 80pc of its 10 million people were fully immunised last month.