The World Health Organisation urged rich countries on Friday to reconsider plans to vaccinate children and instead donate Covid-19 shots to the Covax scheme that shares them with poorer nations.

The WHO is hoping more countries will follow France and Sweden in donating shots to Covax after inoculating their priority populations to help address a gulf in vaccination rates.

Canada and the United States are among countries that have authorised vaccines for use in adolescents in recent weeks. However, a WHO official said talks with Washington on sharing doses were under way.

"I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to #COVAX," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual meeting in Geneva.

Covax, which has delivered around 60 million doses so far...