Next-generation influenza vaccines that protect for longer and against more strains could prevent millions of deaths and dramatically cut flu cases worldwide, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) assessment. The study looks at how “improved”, “next-generation” and “universal” flu vaccines could change both routine flu seasons and future pandemic preparedness, especially for people at highest risk of severe illness.
Each year, seasonal flu causes around one billion infections globally, with 3–5 million severe cases and up to 650,000 deaths from respiratory complications. Current vaccines save lives but their performance varies by season, product and population, and protection usually lasts only one flu season. Access is also uneven: while more than 140 countries report using seasonal flu vaccines, most doses are still given in upper-middle- and high-income countries.
WHO’s Full Value of Improved Influenza Vaccine Assessment estimates that if next-generation vaccines are available and widely used between 2025 and 2050, they could prevent up to 18 billion flu cases and save as many as 6.2 million lives. The biggest gains would be for older people, young children and pregnant women, who face higher risks of severe disease. WHO technical lead Dr Philipp Lambach said the findings give governments, funders and researchers “a common set of evidence” to steer investment and policy on future flu vaccines.
The report also highlights major benefits for health systems and antimicrobial resistance. In many countries, better flu vaccines are expected to be cost-effective or even cost-saving, while helping to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. Current flu vaccination already avoids an estimated 10 million antibiotic doses a year; next-generation vaccines could avert up to 1.3 billion defined daily doses of antibiotics between 2025 and 2050, easing pressure on antimicrobial resistance.
Future impact will depend on context: national disease burden, health system capacity, pricing, programme design and product characteristics such as safety, duration of protection, cold-chain needs and shelf life. WHO’s updated preferred product characteristics, released in late 2025, call for vaccines that offer broader, longer-lasting protection beyond a single season, better protection against severe disease, and designs suitable for low- and middle-income settings, including technologies that can be transferred to local manufacturers. As of February 2026, 46 next-generation flu vaccine candidates using a range of technology platforms are in clinical development, reflecting a growing pipeline that could reshape global influenza control.
