United States | News & Politics

Next-generation vaccines could make the flu season less of a snot-filled nightmare—if they ever reach the public, that is. Trial data out this week shows that Pfizer’s mRNA-based flu vaccine performed markedly better than a traditional shot.

On Wednesday, researchers published the results of a Phase III trial on the vaccine, funded by Pfizer, in the New England Journal of Medicine. The experimental vaccine was significantly more effective at preventing flu than a standard vaccine, the researchers found. The vaccine appears to cause slightly more side effects than others, but there’s a bigger concern: It’s uncertain whether it will be approved in the U.S., given the government’s current skepticism and fearmongering around mRNA vaccine technology.

There were noticeably fewer confirmed cases of influenza in the modRNA group compared to the control vaccine group (57 vs 87), the study showed. Overall, the modRNA vaccine was 34.5% more effective at preventing flu-like illness.