New influenza vaccine developments

Besides the change for many of the authorised influenza vaccines to include a second influenza B strain, there are other attempts to develop new influenza vaccines that would have increased effectiveness. The three main areas of development are:

• vaccines with protective immunity lasting more than one season
• shortening the production time to enable a virological assessment closer to the upcoming influenza season (currently the six-month production time means that the vaccine composition must be decided in February)
• a universal influenza vaccine that protects against influenza regardless of what influenza viruses are circulating.