Monkeypox isn’t cause for concern, according to Biden administration health official Ashish Jha who said Sunday (May 21) the disease won’t have a major impact in the United States.

During an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” the White House coronavirus response coordinator told host Martha Raddatz that he feels like “this is a virus we understand.”

“We have vaccines against it,” Jha said. “We have treatments against it. And it is spread very differently than SARS-CoV-2. It is not as contagious as COVID. So, I am confident we’re going to be able to keep our arms around it.”

Cases of monkeypox, which is similar to smallpox but less deadly, have recently been confirmed in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and several other European countries, as well as the United States, Australia, and Canada.

The first domestic infection was confirmed in Massachusetts last week, and health officials believe there may be more people who have contracted the disease.

President Biden also spoke about the disease Sunday (May 21) during his trip to Osan Air Base in South Korea, calling it something “to be concerned about.”

“It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential,” he said.

Dr. Jha agreed. “I think the president’s right: Any time we have an infectious outbreak like this, we should all be paying attention,” he told Raddatz.

In regards to COVID-19, Jha said the virus is “evolving very quickly” and every mutation of it has “more and more immune escape.”

Even with the current vaccines, readily available testing kits and other tools being used to prevent the spread of the contagious coronavirus, the renowned physician mentioned that more effective vaccines will need to be developed.

“We also are planning for a variety of scenarios including a wave of infection this fall and winter and making sure that we have a new generation of vaccines that are being worked on right now, that we have availability of treatments and testing and we have the resources.”

Watch the full interview below: