This may be the first vaccine but as I understood it mRNA based therapies have been in use for over a decade, according to this: https://www.economist.com/scie

This may be the first vaccine but as I understood it mRNA based therapies have been in use for over a decade, according to this: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/12/01/britain-becomes-the-first-country-to-license-a-fully-tested-covid-19-vaccine https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/12/01/... I guess something's gotta be first and in the absence of any prevailing pandemic there's not as much incentive to develop vaccines as opposed to say cancer treatments.