There will be a return to normal life within a year, Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla said on Sunday, adding that it’s likely annual Covid vaccination shots will be necessary.

“Within a year I think we will be able to come back to normal life,” Bourla said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

Returning to normal life will have caveats, he said: “I don’t think that this means that the variants will not continue coming, and I don’t think that this means that we should be able to live our lives without having vaccinations,” Bourla said. This, however, is still to be determined.

Bourla’s prediction about when normal life will resume is in keeping with that of Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel. “As of today, in a year, I assume,” Bancel told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung, according to Reuters on Thursday, when asked for his estimate of a return to normal life.

Bourla from Pfizer suggested that annual coronavirus vaccination shots would be necessary to achieve this.

Bourla stated that the most probable scenario is for the virus to continue spreading around the globe, with new versions of the vaccines being developed. We will also have vaccines that will last at most a year. I believe annual vaccination is the best scenario, but it’s not clear.

On Friday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky authorized the distribution of Pfizer and BioNTech‘s Covid-19 booster shots for those in high-risk occupational and institutional settings, a move that overruled an advisory panel. Walensky, following the advice panel’s recommendation, approved the distribution of booster shots to seniors and people with chronic medical conditions up to six months after the last dose.

The World Health Organization strongly opposes a widespread rollout of booster shots, saying wealthier nations should give extra doses to countries with minimal vaccination rates. 

Bourla claimed that Sunday’s decision on whether booster shots will be approved by the World Health Organization is based solely on “if they are required” and not on any other criteria.

On Tuesday, Tom Frieden, former head of the CDC, criticized Moderna and Pfizer for not sharing vaccination intellectual property more broadly to help accelerate global vaccination rates.

Moderna, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies are concentrating on the sale of expensive vaccines in rich countries. However, they do little or nothing to address the worldwide shortage of vaccines. “Shameful”, Frieden tweeted via Twitter.

Bourla said that intellectual property should not be thrown open.

Bourla explained that intellectual property created the vibrant life science sector ready to respond when the pandemic struck. We wouldn’t be here to talk if it wasn’t for intellectual property. I don’t know why [Frieden] is using these words. We are proud. Our efforts have helped save millions of people’s lives.

Pfizer sells vaccines at different rates to different countries. Bourla indicated that Pfizer is selling vaccines to developing countries at an affordable price. Bourla also pointed out that Pfizer sells one billion doses of vaccines at no cost to the U.S. government. The U.S. Government then gives those vaccines free of charge to the “poorest countries in the world.”