LAUSR

When urgent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine development efforts began in earnest in early 2020, researchers were by no means starting from scratch. That’s in part attributable to the decades of research dedicated to creating better influenza vaccines. Indeed, many flu vaccinologists pivoted to COVID-19 two years ago, bringing to bear the knowledge and tools they’d developed to fight a seasonal menace that has the potential to spark pandemics. But these vaccinologists haven’t turned away from their longstanding goal: an influenza vaccine that protects against all strains. Such an achievement could save hundreds of thousands of lives every year. And COVID-19 vaccine efforts may end up helping to accelerate that work. A universal influenza vaccine represents a game changer that could take the threat of both seasonal and pandemic influenza “off the table,” according to a November 2021 report, one of four from the