MADRID: Seven researchers whose work contributed to designing the Covid-19 vaccines have won Spain’s prestigious Princess of Asturias award for scientific research.
The award panel announced on Wednesday that it had chosen Hungary’s Katalin Karikó, Americans Drew Weissman and Philip Felgner, Germany’s Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, Canadian Derrick Rossi and Sarah Gilbert of the United Kingdom as this year’s prize winners.
The panel said the seven were “leading figures in one of the most outstanding feats in the history of science.” “With their long careers in pure research, they led the way to innovative applications such as obtaining, in an extraordinarily short space of time, effective vaccines to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic” the citation said.
“Their work constitutes a prime example of the importance of pure research for the protection of public health the world over” it added.
The annual €50,000 ($60,000) award is one of eight Asturias prizes handed out each year by a foundation named for Crown Princess Leonor.
Other categories for the award include art, sport and social sciences.
The awards are among the most prestigious in the Spanish-speaking world.
The award ceremony typically takes place in October in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo.