Sure, the flu vaccine is great, but you have to get it every year, and who wants to do that? That’s why scientists are working on a longer-lasting flu vaccine, and they think they’re getting close, although it won’t happen this year.

The reality is that many people don’t get the flu shot every year: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says only two out of five Americans have received a shot so far this flu season. That’s why scientists want to create a once-in-a-lifetime vaccine, or at least something that only needs to be done a couple times to take hold.

Flu is dangerous. It can infect anyone, and the very young, elderly and chronically ill are at particular risk. There are 3 to 5 million cases of serioius disease each year, and 250,000 to 500,000 die annually, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.

Several groups are working on a vaccine, trying to tackle it using various complex strategies. It’s not clear when we’ll finally figure it out, but a solution can’t come soon enough.