--- --- # Future flu seasons may look different thanks to mRNA technology. Find out why.  The flu might be a relatively common illness, but it’s nothing to mess around with. [The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html)​ estimates that in a typical year, the flu kills tens of thousands of people and sickens millions—and that’s just in the U.S. According to the CDC, getting vaccinated is the single best way to lower your chances of getting sick from the flu and help protect against its potentially dangerous complications. While flu shots have saved countless lives since it [became available in the 1940s](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/pandemic-timeline-1930-and-beyond.htm), they’re not perfect. The CDC notes that vaccination reduces the risk of the flu by 40 to 60 percent—a rate that can drop substantially if the shot targets different flu strains than the ones that become the dominant circulating strain in the season. A new vaccine might be on the horizon, though. Scientists at Pfizer are developing a flu shot using the mRNA technology behind the first COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). If the ongoing clinical studies demonstrate that this vaccine is safe and effective, and if it’s ultimately approved, it could be a game-changer for future flu seasons. “We’re very excited about the prospects of mRNA flu vaccines to give us not only better protection, but also more flexibility to update it on an ongoing basis, and also to potentially manufacture the vaccine in less time than current flu vaccines,” explains Pirada Suphaphiphat Allen, vice president of flu mRNA vaccines at Pfizer, who leads the company’s work on this. Pfizer’s first mRNA flu shot candidate is now being evaluated in a phase 3 clinical trial, which began in September. The vaccine targets all four virus strains the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended for the Northern Hemisphere’s 2022-2023 flu season. The mRNA-based flu shot candidate is being given to approximately 12,500 healthy U.S. adults to test for safety and efficacy. The study will enroll about 25,000 participants in total. ​ The company says that, if successful, mRNA flu vaccines may offer several advantages over conventional shots, including manufacturing speed, flexibility, and precision. “ > WE’RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE PROSPECTS OF MRNA FLU VACCINES TO GIVE US NOT ONLY BETTER PROTECTION, BUT ALSO MORE FLEXIBILITY TO UPDATE IT ON AN ONGOING BASIS, AND ALSO TO POTENTIALLY MANUFACTURE THE VACCINE IN LESS TIME THAN CURRENT FLU VACCINES” PIRADA SUPHAPHIPHAT ALLEN — VICE PRESIDENT OF FLU MRNA VACCINES AT PFIZER  Today, most flu vaccines are developed using a decades-old technique of growing the virus in chicken eggs—a process that takes [at least six months](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccine-selection.htm), per the CDC. Given the lengthy manufacturing process, scientists at the WHO need to predict the dominant flu strains several months in advance of the upcoming season. The WHO’s recommendations for which viruses to include in the vaccines for the upcoming flu season in the Northern Hemisphere are [typically released in February](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccine-selection.htm). That’s a full eight months before flu season usually begins, per the [CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season.htm). “Viruses can continue to evolve and drift during this window of time, and this can result in a mismatch between the vaccine strains and strains that are actually causing disease in the human population,” says Allen. “This mismatch is one of the key factors that have contributed to variable vaccine effectiveness over the last decade.” On the other hand, mRNA vaccines could be produced in a few months (no chicken eggs required!), according to Pfizer. This shorter lead time would give global health experts the opportunity to predict the dominant influenza strains much closer to the start of the season, which could provide an edge in accurately targeting the dominant viruses and reducing the likelihood of a vaccine mismatch.    The immune response may also change with mRNA vaccines compared with the conventional flu shot. Traditional flu shots inject an antigen (a piece of a virus) into the body, which triggers the immune system to make antibodies against that pathogen. If a person is exposed to that virus in the future, their immune system can deploy those antibodies to help fight it. Vaccines that use mRNA technology work slightly differently. These shots inject the body with messenger RNA, which provides the instructions for cells to make antigens against specific parts of a virus. When the immune system detects those antigens, it then responds in not just one, but two ways: antibodies, which attack invading pathogens, and [T cells](https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Lymphocyte), some of which can destroy cells in the body that have been taken over by viruses.1 “Not only could we potentially curb the infection of the cells, but the cells that do get infected could also be killed, which could help curb virus replication and potentially reduce disease severity,” notes Allen. “By triggering more arms of the immune response that have different modes of action, we think a vaccine, if successful, could potentially provide better protection.” “ > BY TRIGGERING MORE ARMS OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE THAT HAVE DIFFERENT MODES OF ACTION, WE THINK A VACCINE, IF SUCCESSFUL, COULD POTENTIALLY PROVIDE BETTER PROTECTION” PIRADA SUPHAPHIPHAT ALLEN — VICE PRESIDENT OF FLU MRNA VACCINES AT PFIZER  Advancements like this sound like the stuff of science fiction, but Pfizer is uniquely well-positioned to make these next-gen shots a reality, says Allen. The company has decades of deep expertise in the discovery and development of vaccines against viral and bacterial infections, and recent success developing vaccines using mRNA technology to help reduce the risk of another deadly disease: COVID-19\. “The use of mRNA coding of viral protein as a safe and effective vaccine has already been validated by the very rapid and successful development of not just one, but two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. And since then, we’ve gained even more experience and knowledge about this technology,” she says. Pfizer’s strong manufacturing capabilities are also another leg up for the company, Allen adds. The company would be positioned to manufacture mRNA flu shots at “the scale and speed that’s needed to deliver patient impact,” she says. Allen continues: “Pfizer is big. We have the infrastructure. We have the knowledge. If we are successful, we have the people, not just who can make the material but who also have the capabilities to formulate these vaccines and deliver it globally.” Time is of the essence—every year, the seasonal flu can kill between [290,000 and 650,000](https://www.who.int/teams/global-influenza-programme/surveillance-and-monitoring/burden-of-disease)​ people worldwide, according to the WHO. Vaccination is the best tool we have to fight this dangerous disease. But amid the urgent need for more effective flu shots, Pfizer is dedicated to using the highest scientific standards in developing new vaccines and collecting data on its safety and efficacy, while protecting participants in the clinical study. --- ### ### “At Pfizer, we have a motto that ‘Science Will Win’. That means we conduct all our preclinical and clinical testing with the utmost scientific rigor, and we let the data drive our decision-making,” says Allen. “Right now, our focus is to gather data from this pivotal Phase 3 study to potentially support the use of a new mRNA based flu vaccine.” ### --- 1. [Rapid induction of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells is associated with coordinated humoral and cellular immunity to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. Immunity, Volume 54, Issue 9, 2021, Pages 2133-2142.e3, ISSN 1074-7613](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2021.08.001) [](https://www.pfizer.com/science/innovation/mrna-technology?cid=bn%5Fwsb%5Fwrdm%5Fmedia%5Ffuture-of-health-articles-time-4139g%5F1022) Breakthroughs that Change Patients’ Lives [Find Out More](https://urldefense.com/v3/%5F%5Fhttps:/www.pfizerclinicaltrials.com/mrnavaccines?cid=bn%5Fwsb%5Fwrdm%5Fmedia%5Ffuture-of-health-articles-time-4139g%5F1022%5F%5F;!!H9nueQsQ!7o%5Fci4rJPvl-Lsl9TLQ-csh7Cvpr43DqGEDo7WVqtZi-qlxk3hZSoFM6jgzkJmaDOan2gSIQZ4W2A2MuZK2ckafsuaCF$) Future flu seasons may look different thanks to mRNA technology. Find out why. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/pfizer/future-flu-seasons-may-look-different-thanks-to-mrna-technology-find-out-why/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/pfizer/future-flu-seasons-may-look-different-thanks-to-mrna-technology-find-out-why/"},"headline":"Future flu seasons may look different thanks to mRNA technology. Find out why.","datePublished":"2026-06-18T14:28:48.026Z","dateModified":"2026-06-02T17:59:47.080Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/branded-content/pfizer/future-flu-seasons-may-look-different-thanks-to-mrna-technology-find-out-why/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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":"https://time.com/branded-content/pfizer/future-flu-seasons-may-look-different-thanks-to-mrna-technology-find-out-why/","name":"Future flu seasons may look different thanks to mRNA technology. Find out why."}}]}] ```