As for if they are the first to develop those ideas of vampirism, not sure. Masquerade's idea of vampires is heavily inspired from various media, one of the most prominent being Anne Rice's book, especially her character Lestat.
I have never actually read Anne Rice's novels, but don't they have people turning into vampires directly by drinking blood of other vampires? "Pseudo-vampire" underlings seem to be a new addition to this chain of events.
It's been a long time since I read Rice's books, so details might be unclear, but from what I remember, merely biting a mortal doesn't turn into a vampire in her works. In interview with a vampire, the protagonist often wonders about how a vampire is made and his sire (Lestat) pretends to be the only one who knows how to do that and keep the method secret (I think it does involve sharing a vampire blood, but not sure).
In that book, though, it's said that vampire always kills their victims when they drink, as this is the main source of anguish of the protagonist (being forced to kill a mortal each night to keep existing) and the source of the idea of vampires to be tragic creatures that is encouraged in Masquerade.
In any case, the common ideas of vampires are mostly dismissed right from this manga's first chapter, as other mentioned already, so it's pretty safe to assume that the author is going with their own interpretation of those creatures to suit their story.