San Francisco and New York state on emergency footing over monkeypox

California city's mayor warns We are at a very scary place', while New York accounts for a quarter of US cases

San Francisco officials announced a state of emergency on Thursday in response to an escalating number of monkeypox cases in the city and a national shortage of vaccines.

We are at a very scary place. And we don't want to be ignored by the federal government in our need. So many leaders of the LGBT community have also, weeks ago, asked for additional help and support and assistance," said San Francisco's mayor, London Breed, who added that the city was in desperate need of vaccines".