Katalin Karikó was robbed, unless they are giving mRNA vaccines as chemistry.
The only exception I'm aware of in modern times is the high-Tc superconductor prize in Physics. Results announced in March, prize awarded in October -- it was so obviously important and trivially demonstrated as correct.
mRNA is definitely in a similar regime today. A promising technology led to vaccines in trials by autumn 2020, and oodles of shots-in-arms by autumn 2021. In 2022, the mRNA technology is on very solid footing for having saved millions of lives. The Committees definitely could award one or more mRNA prizes this year, but they may have other prizes they need to award before a worthy recipient passes away.
The New York Times, in an article about Malone, reported: "While he was involved in some early research into the technology, his role in its creation was minimal at best, say half a dozen Covid experts and researchers, including three who worked closely with Dr. Malone."
>While Malone promotes himself as an inventor of mRNA vaccines,[1][7] credit for the distinction is more often given to the lead authors on the major papers he contributed to (such as Felgner and Wolff), later advances by Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman,[3][19] or Moderna co-founder Derrick Rossi.[13] Ultimately, mRNA vaccines were the decades-long result of the contributions of hundreds of researchers, including Malone.[3][20] The New York Times, in an article about Malone, reported: "While he was involved in some early research into the technology, his role in its creation was minimal at best, say half a dozen Covid experts and researchers, including three who worked closely with Dr. Malone."[7]