--- title: A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming description: The combo vaccine generated stronger immune responses than the separate shots. canonical: https://time.com/6986786/moderna-flu-covid-19-combination-vaccine/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-06-10T17:34:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:44:55.883Z article:section: Health og:title: A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming og:description: The combo vaccine generated stronger immune responses than the separate shots. og:url: https://time.com/6986786/moderna-flu-covid-19-combination-vaccine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5d3023ce53b656c/698a57ad47ca3825103bda0b/GettyImages-1319233245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2121 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: GettyImages-1319233245.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming twitter:description: The combo vaccine generated stronger immune responses than the separate shots. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5d3023ce53b656c/698a57ad47ca3825103bda0b/GettyImages-1319233245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jun 10, 2024 5:34 PM UTC  Syringe and Vial on White Background Syringe and Vial on White Background Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jun 10, 2024 5:34 PM UTC As much as we’d like to think that COVID-19 is behind us, the virus isn’t going anywhere. Health officials continue to recommend that people get vaccinated for both COVID-19 and influenza every year for the foreseeable future, and high hospitalization rates for COVID-19 in the past winter were a reminder that SARS-CoV-2 can still cause serious disease. Soon, that may be possible with one shot instead of two. On June 10, Moderna reported that its combination COVID-19/influenza shot generated even better immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza than those elicited by existing, separate vaccines. Both of the shots used in the study are experimental. The COVID-19 portion relies on a slightly different form of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein than the existing vaccine. Instead of encoding for the entire spike protein, the combination vaccine includes two key parts of it in a way that streamlines the shot to require a lower dose—which is useful for a combination vaccine, and also potentially extends its shelf life. The influenza component of the vaccine uses the same mRNA technology behind the existing COVID-19 vaccine but targets influenza proteins in the three strains that circulated during the past season: H1N1 and H3N2 from the influenza A group, and an influenza B strain. **Read More**: [_An mRNA Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promise_](https://time.com/6984417/melanoma-vaccine-moderna-mrna/) In a study of more than 8,000 adults ages 50 and older, about half received the combination vaccine. The other half—the control group—received two separate shots: Moderna's [latest COVID-19 vaccine](https://time.com/6313497/new-covid-19-vaccine-booster/), which targets the [XBB.1.5 variant](https://time.com/6280933/who-updated-covid-19-vaccine/), and a flu shot (either Fluarix, if people were 50 to 64 years old, or Fluzone HD for those 65 and older). In the younger group, the combo vaccine generated about 20% to 40% higher levels of antibodies to the influenza strains, and 30% higher levels to XBB.1.5, compared to the control group. Among older people, antibodies were 6% to 15% higher against the flu strains and 64% higher against XBB.1.5 compared to older people in the control group. “The real advantage of a single shot is that people only need to get one needle," says Dr. Jacqueline Miller, senior vice president and head of development in infectious diseases at Moderna. There's a public-health advantage, too, she says, since U.S. vaccination rates for both diseases are relatively low. "When we are able to give the two vaccines as one, it could increase vaccine compliance rates, especially for those at highest risk." **Read More**: [_How to Navigate the New World of At-Home Testing_](https://time.com/6316682/at-home-tests-covid-19-rsv-flu/) Moderna is continuing to study the COVID-19 vaccine and the flu shot used in the combo as separate shots as well. That data will also help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when it reviews the company’s request for approval of the combination shot, which could come by the end of the year. The specific strains targeted in the shot will depend on which forms of the viruses are circulating at the time. (The company also [filed](https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2024/Moderna-Files-FDA-Application-for-the-JN.1-Targeting-COVID-19-Vaccine/default.aspx) a request to the FDA on June 7 to update its COVID-19 vaccine to target the JN.1 variant.) The combination vaccine will likely not arrive in time for the flu and COVID-19 season this fall. But in coming years, a two-in-one vaccine could help to increase vaccination rates, which in turn could contribute to lower hospitalization rates for both diseases. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6986786/moderna-flu-covid-19-combination-vaccine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6986786/moderna-flu-covid-19-combination-vaccine/"},"headline":"A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming","datePublished":"2024-06-10T17:34:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:44:55.883Z","description":"The combo vaccine generated stronger immune responses than the separate shots.","url":"https://time.com/6986786/moderna-flu-covid-19-combination-vaccine/","keywords":["COVID-19","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5d3023ce53b656c/698a57ad47ca3825103bda0b/GettyImages-1319233245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte5d3023ce53b656c/698a57ad47ca3825103bda0b/GettyImages-1319233245.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-1319233245.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6986786/moderna-flu-covid-19-combination-vaccine/","name":"A Combined Flu and COVID-19 Shot May Be Coming"}}]}] ```