Axios not using react proxy - reactjs

Question

I'm at my wits end.
I'm creating a react app that connects to a express backend, as per the tutorial I am following I add the proxy to the package.json of the react app:
{
"name": "client",
"version": "0.1.0",
"private": true,
"dependencies": {
"#testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
"#testing-library/react": "^9.5.0",
"#testing-library/user-event": "^7.2.1",
"axios": "^0.19.2",
"moment": "^2.24.0",
"react": "^16.13.1",
"react-dom": "^16.13.1",
"react-moment": "^0.9.7",
"react-redux": "^7.2.0",
"react-router-dom": "^5.1.2",
"react-scripts": "3.4.1",
"redux": "^4.0.5",
"redux-devtools-extension": "^2.13.8",
"redux-thunk": "^2.3.0",
"uuid": "^7.0.3",
},
"scripts": {
"start": "react-scripts start",
"build": "react-scripts build",
"test": "react-scripts test",
"eject": "react-scripts eject"
},
"eslintConfig": {
"extends": "react-app"
},
"browserslist": {
"production": [
">0.2%",
"not dead",
"not op_mini all"
],
"development": [
"last 1 chrome version",
"last 1 firefox version",
"last 1 safari version"
]
},
"proxy": "http://localhost:5000"
}
However when I run a request with axios:
const config = {
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
},
};
const body = JSON.stringify({ name, email, password });
const res = await axios.post('/api/users', body, config);
instead of calling localhost:5000/api/users it calls localhost:3000/api/users
I have even tried creating a axios instance:
const axIns = axios.create({
proxy: {
host: '127.0.0.1',
port: 5000,
},
});
Nothing works... please can you tell me what I am doing wrong