The reason why COVID-19 vaccines didn't win a Nobel prize for Science this year

The development and mass rollout of experimental COVID-19 vaccines have been no less than a page turner. Never before have vaccines been pushed into use, or manufactured in such an unprecendented rate, which have undoubtedly saved millions of lives worldwide, and saved the pandemic from taking an even nastier turn.

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Yet, while it was highly suspected that the developers behind COVID-19 vaccines would take home the Nobel prize for Science this year, this year's prize was awarded to fundamental advance, which were expected to win the honour for long. However, experts have said that there are plenty of reasons as to why it happened. We explain why

The timing didn't work in favour of a Covid-19 Nobel this year. Nominations for this year's prize had to be submitted by February 1.

This was more than two months after the first mRNA vaccines, and some others, proved their mettle in clinical trials, but before their impact on the pandemic was fully clear, said Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, which selects the prize winners.

"Follow-up is really still happening now," Hansson added.

According to Nature.com, some scientists expressed surprise and disappointment at the omission of Covid-19 vaccines, particularly those developed using messenger RNA technology, which has launched a new class of vaccines.

But Nobel prize insiders and watchers say that timing, technical details and politics meant that a nod this year was a long shot.

However, the impact of Covid-19 vaccines and the underlying advances indicate that it shouldn't be long before researchers behind the work get a call from Stockholm.

"The development of mRNA vaccines is a wonderful success story that has had enormous positive consequences for humankind. And we are all very grateful to the scientists," Hansson said.

"This is a kind of discovery that will receive nominations. But we need to take time," Hansson added.

(With inputs from IANS)