Pfizer’s CEO sees a return to ‘normal’ globally by the end of 2022

June 18, 2021: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC that he expects life to return to normal for developed countries by this year’s end and the rest of the world by the end of 2022.

By the end of next year, there should be Covid-19 vaccine doses for most world leaders to inoculate their populations against the virus successfully, Bourla said in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the CNBC Evolve Global Summit.

“I think the whole world will have enough volumes by 2022 to vaccinate, to protect everyone,” he said.

“And I think that by this year’s end, the developed world will already be in this situation,” he added.

Pfizer and German partner BioNTech reaches the milestone of manufacturing 1 billion doses of their Covid vaccine in the previous week, Bourla told CNBC. The two companies expect to produce up to 3 billion quantities this year.

The vaccine, one of three authorized for use in the U.S., has played a significant role in driving down the number of new infections and hospitalizations all over the country. However, as many states begin to lift their Covid restrictions and return to regular, leaders from other countries urge the U.S. to donate leftover doses.

Previously, Pfizer and BioNTech pledged to provide 2 billion doses of the vaccine to low- and middle-income countries.

The drugmakers are planning to provide the U.S. government with 500 million doses of the vaccine to inoculate 250 million people since it requires two amounts given three weeks apart. As part of the plan, the United States said it would allocate the vaccine doses to 92 low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The U.S. has committed to donate 80 million Covid doses from four drugmakers. It plans to allocate most vaccines through COVAX, the World Health Organization-backed global vaccine sharing program.

Bourla said Pfizer has contracts with more than 120 countries around the world. However, most vaccine doses have gone to developed countries, he said, because they placed their orders for the doses in advance.

He said he expects vaccines to go toward poorer countries in the second half of this year as nations that are developed vaccinate their populations.

The Company prepares to manufacture booster doses, he said. The CEO has previously told CNBC that people will need booster doses within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated and potentially additional amounts annually.

He also touted that the Company works on treatments for those who do get infected.

In April, Bourla told CNBC that the experimental oral drug of the Company to treat Covid-19 at the first sign of illness could be available by the year-end.