In February, the US House of Representatives voted to lift the requirement that most foreign air travellers be vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the few remaining pandemic travel restrictions still in place.

Vaccine coverage among children has declined in 112 countries and the percent of children vaccinated worldwide slipped 5 points to 81% – a low not seen since 2008.

Dr Zaliha Mustafa however acknowledges a small increase in numbers.

Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study.

Djokovic missed the tournaments last year as well and he was unable to travel to New York in August for the US Open without proof of vaccination.

With China lifting its Covid-19 restrictions, attention must be turned to preventing another spread of infections.

The baby's parents had blocked the procedure on the grounds that any blood transfused could have come from a donor jabbed with an mRNA vaccine.

During the pandemic, many deals governments made with pharmaceutical companies have been kept confidential, giving them little scope to hold drugmakers accountable.

The panel says there is no clear case for broad use, citing a lack of data to rule out any rare side effects and no signs of the infection causing severe illness in otherwise healthy children.

Health authorities cite evidence from Singapore's recent wave showing that severe illness and death are rare among the vaccinated and that a fifth shot has minimal impact on virus transmission.

It also approves a separate shot by Moderna, specifically targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 strains of the coronavirus Omicron variant.

Around 18% said they would wait and see whether they would get the new booster shot, while 10% said they would only get it if it was required.