Pfizer CEO Says US Should Return To Normal Within The Year

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Sunday on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanapoulos that the US should return to normal within the year. Bourla cited the Covid-19 booster shots in his reasoning.

“Finally, Moderna’s CEO said this week that the pandemic is on course to be over in about a year. Do you agree with that?” Stephanapoulos asked Bourla.

“I agree that, within a year, I think we will be able to come back to normal life,” Bourla agreed, but added, “I don’t think that this means that variants will not be continuing coming. And I don’t think that this means that we should be able to live our lives without having vaccinations, basically. But that’s – again, remains to be seen.’

Bourla said an annual vaccination would be the mostly likely outcome, much as people get an annual flu vaccine to help battle those disease variants.

“The most likely scenario for me, it is that, because the virus is spread all over the world, that we will continue seeing new variants that are coming out,” he said. “And, also, we will have vaccines that – they will last at least a year. And I think the most likely scenario – it is annual re-vaccinations. But we don’t know, really. We need to wait and see the data.”

Pfizer is the only Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer that has also been approved for a booster. The booster shots are only permitted by the FDA to be distributed to those age 65 and older, and high-risk individuals.