The traditional festivities were replaced last year as well with a mainly digital celebration as the pandemic raged Europe and the rest of the world.

“I think everybody would like the pandemic to be over, but we are not there yet,” the Nobel Foundation said in a statement, adding it hoped to hold a small, local award ceremony despite the laureates not being present.

The Foundation said the ceremony will be broadcast on television and live streamed via its Nobel Prize digital platforms.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is keeping open the possibility of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in an in-person event.

“In mid-October, the committee will announce the format of the Nobel festivities in Oslo,” the Nobel Foundation said.

Last year’s Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Programme in a virtual ceremony.

This year’s prizes, awarded for achievements in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics, will be announced from Oct 4 to 11.

The Nobel Prizes were created in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, and have been awarded since 1901.