The WHO's director told reporters Friday that more than 50,000 people have been vaccinated so far against mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. More than 1,100 have died of mpox in Africa, and the African Union's health watchdog has warned of a potentially "more severe" pandemic than Covid-19.

More than 50,000 people have so far been vaccinated against mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the World Health Organization's chief said on Friday.

The outbreak is still not under control, the African Union's health watchdog warned a day earlier, appealing for resources to avoid a "more severe" pandemic than Covid-19.

More than 1,100 people have died of mpox in Africa, where some 48,000 cases have been recorded since January, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). 

The majority of deaths have been in the DRC, the epicentre of the outbreak, which launched a vaccination drive last month.