COVAX bottlenecks need to be urgently addressed, U.N. agency says

FILE PHOTO: A nurse fills a syringe with a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, at Enfermera Isabel Zendal new pandemic hospital in Madrid, Spain, February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - A top official at the U.N. agency in charge of vaccine deliveries via the COVAX sharing scheme urged recipient countries on Friday to address bottlenecks that could hamper the rollout set to begin this month.

COVAX is meant to start dispatching the first of hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries from February in a bid to address the inequity in vaccine distribution which has so far favoured wealthy countries.