>>14336885same anon here
They probably thought of it, but remember that there were a bunch of research teams racing for a vaccine: their goal was to be the first to pass clinical trials, not necessarily to make a vaccine that would be robust against mutated versions of the virus. I think this is partially because there was a ton of money (for the sponsoring companies) and prestige (for the researchers) to be first. Making something variant-resistant is also hard and would take longer, so more lives lost in the meantime.
About the money/prestige race (remember Operation Warp Speed?), this is the order the teams passed Phase III trials:
First: Pfizer___________________Fate: ultra successful
Second: Moderna______________Fate: ultra successful
Third: Johnson & Johnson_______Fate: successful
Fourth: AstraZeneca/Oxford______Fate: never approved in US, good success abroad
Fifth: Novavax_________________Fate: never approved in US, small success abroad
These guys weren't so lucky:
Sixth: GSK/Sanofi______________Fate: too slow, trying to pawn off on 3rd world
Last: Merck___________________Fate: too slow, funding cut (gave up)
