Biden walks back his remark that people should be 'concerned' about monkeypox, saying it's not as serious as COVID-19

• President Joe Biden has walked back comments he made that people should be "concerned" about monkeypox.
• Biden said monkeypox is not as serious as COVID-19 during a press briefing in Tokyo on Monday.

President Joe Biden on Monday walked back comments he made that people should be "concerned" about monkeypox, saying that the disease is not as serious as COVID-19.

"I just don't think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with COVID-19," Biden said during a press briefing in Tokyo as he discussed the recent monkeypox cases that have been identified across the globe, including in Europe and the United States.

"Thus far there doesn't seem to be a need for any kind of extra effort beyond what's going on," the president said, explaining that the smallpox vaccine is effective against monkeypox.

However, Biden added, "I think people should be careful."

When asked whether the US has enough of a supply of the smallpox vaccine to combat any monkeypox spread in the country, Biden said, "I think we do have enough to deal with the likelihood of a problem," the Associated Press reported.

Biden's latest comments on monkeypox — a rare viral infection that primarily occurs in Central and West Africa — were much calmer than those he made on Sunday about the disease.

The president on Sunday said the detection of monkeypox in the US is "something that everybody should be concerned about."

Biden made the remarks to reporters in his first public comments about the disease that has also been detected in Canada and Australia.

The first known case of the current monkeypox outbreak was detected in the United Kingdom on May 7 in a person that had traveled to Nigeria.

"It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential," Biden told reporters at Osan Air Base in South Korea, according to the AP.

Last week, a Massachusetts man tested positive for monkeypox after returning to the US from Canada, making it the first confirmed case of monkeypox in the US this year, health officials said.

Additionally, a New York City resident has tested positive for the virus that causes monkeypox.

There were about 80 confirmed monkeypox cases worldwide and "50 pending investigations" as of Friday, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus is much less contagious than the virus that causes COVID-19 and can cause flu-like symptoms and puss-filled boils that cover the body, as Insider has previously reported.

Similar strains of monkeypox suspected to be linked to the recent cases have a fatality rate around 1%, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Monkeypox is transmitted to humans "through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus," the WHO said.

"As monkeypox spreads through close contact, the response should focus on the people affected and their close contacts. People who closely interact with someone who is infectious are at greater risk for infection: this includes health workers, household members and sexual partners," according to the WHO.