Two reviews by Harding and Heaton and Lewnard and Cobey shed light on recent progress and new developments towards a universal influenza vaccine and the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine. The first review discusses the development of a universal influenza vaccine as one of pivotal importance, given that influenza viruses infect approximately 20% of the global population annually and result in hundreds of thousands of deaths. In an attempt to reduce influenza disease burden while universal vaccines are developed and tested, many groups are working on different strategies to improve the efficacy of the standard seasonal vaccine and to more accurately determine the effectiveness of the different vaccines statistically.