Next generation influenza vaccines that provide broader
and longer-lasting protection than existing seasonal
vaccines, could play a vital role in reducing the global burden
of influenza, according to a recent World Health Organization
(WHO) assessment.
The new WHO Full value of
improved influenza vaccine assessment (FVIVA) and Vaccine journal article evaluate the health,
economic, and policy impacts of next-generation influenza vaccines
and identifies future barriers to their uptake
globally. They provide a basis to guide investment, policy decisions,
and introduction strategies – supporting stronger seasonal
influenza programmes and enhanced pandemic preparedness.
Each year, there are around a billion cases of seasonal
influenza globally, with 3 to 5 million cases leading to severe illness
and an estimated 290 000 to 650 000 deaths from respiratory
complications.
While current influenza vaccines help reduce the burden of
disease, their effectiveness can vary by season, product, and
population group. Protection is limited to one season. Twice a
year, WHO convenes experts from the Global Influenza
Surveillance and Response System to issue recommendations for
the influenza vaccine strain composition. While 143 countries
reported to WHO that they have seasonal influenza
vaccines available, upper-middle and high-income countries use the
majority of influenza vaccine doses.
The FVIVA estimates that if improved, next-generation, or
universal influenza vaccines are available and widely used
between 2025 and 2050, they could prevent up 18 billion cases of influenza and
save up to 6.2 million lives globally, particularly
among people at higher risk of severe disease, such as older adults,
young children and pregnant women.
“This assessment makes clear the potential benefits that
improved influenza vaccines could offer across different settings,” said Dr
Philipp Lambach, WHO technical lead of the project. “It provides all those
working on future influenza vaccine investments, policy development and
research priorities a common set of evidence to catalyze vaccine
development.”
The study also shows that in many countries
these influenza vaccines could continue
to be cost-effective or even cost-saving, while also
contributing to reduced antimicrobial use. Influenza vaccine uptake also reduces antimicrobial
resistance with the current use estimated to reduce
unnecessary antibiotic use by 10 million doses a
year. Next-generation influenza vaccines could avert up to 1.3
billion defined daily doses of antibiotics between 2025 and 2050,
contributing significantly to combating increasing antimicrobial
resistance globally.
The potential impact of improved influenza vaccines will
depend on the context, including national disease burden, health
system capacity, vaccine pricing and programmatic
considerations. Safety, efficacy, duration of protection,
temperature stability and shelf-life of next generation
influenza vaccines will also influence adoption decisions
in low- and middle-income countries.
The Full Value of Vaccine Assessment framework is designed to
support evidence-informed dialogue among governments,
researchers, manufacturers and partners by providing a comprehensive
overview of the potential value of improved vaccines and the
considerations relevant to their development and use.
The FVIVA aligns with WHO’s Global influenza strategy 2019–2030 and WHO’s preferred product characteristics for
next-generation influenza vaccines, reflecting evolving scientific
knowledge and experience gained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2025, WHO released updated Preferred product characteristics
to guide the development of safer, more effective influenza vaccines. These
vaccines should provide broader and longer-lasting protection beyond a single
flu season, offer better protection against severe disease, and be suitable for
use in low- and middle-income countries. The guidance also highlights the need
for vaccine technologies that can be transferred to manufacturers in low- and
middle-income countries to support local production.
The FVIVA represented a strong collaboration between WHO
and international experts working on improved, next generation, and
universal influenza vaccines. As of February 2026, there
are 46 next-generation influenza vaccines
in clinical development using diverse technology
platforms as reported by the Influenza Vaccines R&D
Roadmap.
Source: WHO Website