Despite FDA-approved vaccines and antivirals, seasonal and pandemic influenza remains a serious threat associated with substantial morbidity and mortality.  The present modalities and vaccine approaches will be discussed and the difficulties one faces with the presently available formulations will be addressed. While annual seasonal influenza virus vaccination is frequently effective – albeit underutilized in most countries – a safe universal influenza virus vaccine providing broad and long-lasting immunity would represent a major breakthrough.  We have developed vaccine constructs which express chimeric hemagglutinins resulting in the redirection of the immune response away from the immunodominant (variant) head domain of the hemagglutinin toward the much more conserved stalk of the hemagglutinin and the highly conserved neuraminidase.  Such vaccine constructs work well in animal challenge models and await extensive clinical trials in humans.