2026/2027 seasonal flu vaccine strains recommended

EMA issued recommendations for egg-derived and live-attenuated influenza vaccine strains for the 2026/2027 season.

What this means

The flu vaccine protects against specific virus strains that experts predict will circulate each winter. Today the European Medicines Agency announced which strains manufacturers should include in next season's egg-based and nasal spray flu shots. This early guidance helps vaccine producers start making doses so countries can stock up before flu season begins.

Read original at ema.europa.eu ↗

From the source

EU recommendations for 2026/2027 seasonal flu vaccine composition

30 March 2026

Annual updates to virus strains ensure vaccines stay effective

NewsHumanVaccines

This news announcement was updated on 7 May 2026 to include additional recommendations for strains for seasonal egg-derived and live-attenuated influenza vaccines

EMA has issued recommendations for the influenza virus strains (see notes further below) that vaccine manufacturers should include in vaccines for the prevention of seasonal influenza from autumn 2026.

Every year, EMA issues EU recommendations for the composition of seasonal influenza vaccines on the basis of observations by the World Health Organization (WHO), which are informed by regular monitoring activities on the prevalence and characteristics of different influenza viruses worldwide.

Manufacturers of live-attenuated vaccines or egg-based vaccines should include these three virus strains for the 2026/2027 season:

• an A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;

• an A/Darwin/1454/2025 (H3N2)-like virus;

• a B/Tokyo/EIS13-175/2025 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.

Manufacturers of cell-based vaccines should include these three virus strains for the 2026/2027 season:

• an A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;

• an A/Darwin/1415/2025 (H3N2)-like virus;

• a B/Pennsylvania/14/2025 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.

Previously, most authorised influenza vaccines were formulated to protect against the four main strains of influenza responsible for seasonal flu, including the strain known as B/Yamagata. However, since B/Yamagata has not been detected in circulation since March 2020, it is considered to no longer pose a threat to public health. As a result, there is no EU recommendation for a B/Yamagata strain in seasonal influenza vaccines for the 2026/2027 influenza season, which is in line with the respective WHO recommendation regarding the composition of vaccines for 2026/2027.

In case quadrivalent vaccines are still required (e.g. in regions where the transition to trivalent vaccines has not been finalised yet), vaccine manufacturers of inactivated vaccines can consider producing a quadrivalent vaccine containing two influenza B virus strains for the 2026/2027 season. For these vaccines it is proposed to follow WHO recommendations from previous years for the B/Yamagata strain, i.e. a B/Phuket/3073/2013 (B/Yamagata lineage)-like virus.

The recommendations for the influenza season 2026/2027 were endorsed by EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) at its March 2026 plenary meeting.

Influenza viruses continuously change and evolve. The periodic replacement of the virus strains contained in influenza vaccines is therefore necessary to keep the vaccines effective.

The Agency recommends that marketing authorisation holders submit applications to change the composition of centrally authorised seasonal influenza vaccines by 15 June 2026.

Notes:

1- This news announcement was updated on 7 May 2026 to include additional recommendations for strains for seasonal egg-derived and live-attenuated influenza vaccines.

2- This news announcement includes the information from the EU recommendation for the seasonal influenza vaccine composition for the season 2026/2027 which was amended subsequent to CHMP adoption on 5 May 2026. Please refer to the linked document which specifies the additional strains added on 5 May 2026. Annex I of the recommendation (Reagents for vaccine standardisation) has also been updated.

External links

• World Health Organization (WHO)

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Reproduced from EMA News · view original · public domain or open-licensed government work

Topic vaccine composition

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