European UnionThe composition of virus vaccines for use in the European Union for the 2020–2021 Northern Hemisphere influenza season recommended by the European Medicines Agency on April 1, 2020, was:Egg-based or live attenuated trivalent vaccines should contain:
an A/Guangdong-Maonan/SWL1536/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Hong Kong/2671/2019 (H3N2)-like virus;
a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.Cell-based trivalent vaccines should contain:
an A/Hawaii/70/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Hong Kong/45/2019 (H3N2)-like virus;
a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.A B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus is recommended in addition to the strains mentioned above for the quadrivalent vaccines. 2021 southern hemisphere
The composition of vaccines for use in the 2021 Southern Hemisphere influenza season influenza season recommended by the World Health Organization in September 2020:For egg-based (trivalent):

an A/Victoria/2570/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Hong Kong/2671/2019 (H3N2)-like virus; and
a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.For cell- or recombinant-based (trivalent):

an A/Wisconsin/588/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Hong Kong/45/2019 (H3N2)-like virus; and
a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.The quadrivalent version should contain, in addition to the above:

a B/Phuket/3073/2013 (B/Yamagata lineage)-like virus.In Australia, the standard vaccine under the National Immunisation Program for 2021 is the quadrivalent one. 2021–2022 northern hemisphere
The composition of virus vaccines for use in the 2021–2022 Northern Hemisphere influenza season is

European UnionThe composition of virus vaccines for use in the European Union for the 2021–2022 Northern Hemisphere influenza season recommended by the European Medicines Agency on March 30, 2021, is:Egg-based or live attenuated trivalent vaccines should contain:
an A/Victoria/2570/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Cambodia/e0826360/2020 (H3N2)-like virus;
a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.Cell-based trivalent vaccines should contain:
an A/Wisconsin/588/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus;
an A/Cambodia/e0826360/2020 (H3N2)-like virus;
a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.A B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus is recommended in addition to the strains mentioned above for the quadrivalent vaccines.
Origins and development
In the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, "Pharmacists tried everything they knew, everything they had ever heard of, from the ancient art of bleeding patients, to administering oxygen, to developing new vaccines and serums (chiefly against what we now call Hemophilus influenzae – a name derived from the fact that it was originally considered the etiological agent – and several types of pneumococci). Only one therapeutic measure, transfusing blood from recovered patients to new victims, showed any hint of success. "In 1931, viral growth in embryonated hens eggs was reported by Ernest William Goodpasture and colleagues at Vanderbilt University. The work was extended to growth of influenza virus by several workers, including Thomas Francis, Jonas Salk, Wilson Smith and Macfarlane Burnet, leading to the first experimental influenza vaccines. In the 1940s, the US military developed the first approved inactivated vaccines for influenza, which were used in the Second World War. Hens eggs continued to be used to produce virus used in influenza vaccines, but manufacturers made improvements in the purity of the virus by developing improved processes to remove egg proteins and to reduce systemic reactivity of the vaccine. In 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved influenza vaccines made by growing virus in cell cultures and influenza vaccines made from recombinant proteins have been approved, with plant-based influenza vaccines being tested in clinical trials. Acceptance
The egg-based technology for producing influenza vaccine was created in the 1950s.