Nobel prizes in the coronavirus era – what you need to know

As the Nobel Prize ceremony approaches, the coronavirus pandemic continues to plague both Norway and the world. 

The prize for medicine will be the first to be given out, and it may receive extra attention this year.

Since the prizes are usually given for achievements that happened quite some time ago, it is unlikely that the medicine prize will go to someone who has worked directly with the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it could go to someone who has made discoveries of significance for the treatment of viral diseases in a more general sense. 

According to newspaper Dagens Nyheter, two current candidates are Jacques Miller and Max Cooper, who were behind breakthroughs in research on the immune system in the 1960s.

WHO to receive Peace Prize?

The winner of the medicine prize will be revealed on Monday. 

As the week continues, the prizes for physics, chemistry, and literature will be given out. 

On Friday, the Peace Prize winner will be announced, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is amongst the favorites. 

The winner will receive the award on December 10, but the traditional ceremony in Oslo City Hall has been canceled due to the pandemic.

Among the favorites for the Literature Prize are the Canadian poet Anne Carson and the American-Caribbean Jamaica Kincaid. 

Canadian Margaret Atwood, known for several novels with post-apocalyptic themes, is also considered relevant.

One of the previous recipients of the Literature Prize is Gabriel García Márquez, who wrote “Love in the Time of Cholera” in the 1980s – a novel that has inspired countless puns during the pandemic.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today