Pfizer CEO Talks Life With COVID-19: 'I think we can live with the virus'

by Erin Carson

Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, vaccine maker Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla talked to an in-person crowd at SXSW on Monday about existing in a world with COVID-19.

"I think we can live with the virus as we are living with hundreds of viruses right now," Bourla said. 

As people continue to feel fatigue around protective measures like masking and social distancing, the virus will keep spreading, he said. At the same time, he flagged the emergence of oral treatments for COVID-19 and the likelihood that many people will contract it, perhaps because they skipped a booster, never got vaccinated, or are exposed to someone who isn't vaccinated. 

"That's why treatments can play a huge role," he said, also noting how Pfizer aims to make the vaccine an annual precaution, like a flu shot. Though, he doesn't expect the numbers of people willing to comply with an annual vaccine recommendation to be high. 

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