Palau has successfully vaccinated its population aged over 12 years with both doses of COVID-19 vaccine. With this development, the Pacific nation of Palau has achieved the highest percentage of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the world, according to the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC).

The federation has further urged Palau's neighbouring countries to follow the example and accelerate efforts to vaccinate their population.

"99 percent of Palau's population aged over 12 has had both shots of vaccine for the new coronavirus," the Red Cross said in a recent statement.

Citing official figures confirming that 16,152 people in the country are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the IFRC added that Palau is in the top spot of the list.

The archipelago of 500 islands in the western Pacific Ocean is ahead of leading countries like Portugal which was named one of the most vaccinated countries in the world with about 80 percent of its 10 million people fully immunised last month.

The latest figures also represent a striking contrast with other small nations in the region that are experiencing slow vaccine rollout due to public hesitancy and supply constraints. As per the IFRC, less than 10 percent of the Solomon Islands (population 650,000) and Kiribati (population 119,000) have received the vaccine. On the other hand, Papua New Guinea has less than 1 percent of its population fully vaccinated against the virus.

"The urgency of increasing vaccination rates in the region was increased by the coming Pacific cyclone season, which could cause more damage to livelihoods already impacted by the pandemic," the IFRC added.

Besides Palau, other Pacific nations have also shown exceptional efforts in getting their population vaccinated against the virus on a per capita basis. With a population of 17,000, the Cook Islands have 96 percent of its eligible people fully vaccinated, while Fiji (population 896,000) has vaccinated 96 percent of its population with the first dose.