The Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to the researchers whose findings allowed the development of effective mRNA vaccines against covid-19.

Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman were declared as winners when Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Assembly, announced the award on Monday in Stockholm.

Kariko is a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where Weissman is a professor in vaccine research. The American university is also where the pair conducted their prize-winning research.

“Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” said the Nobel Prize panel.

BREAKING NEWS
The 2023 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Y62uJDlNMj

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023

Nobel announcements are set to continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday while the winner of the economics awarded will be revealed on 9 October.

Each Nobel Prize winner earns an award of 11 million Swedish Kronor, or €950,000. The cash award was a request of the prize’s creator, Alfred Nobel.

The ceremonies for the prize winners take place on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. The service for the peace prize takes place in Oslo, while the other ceremony is held in the Swedish capital Stockholm.