A team of Chinese scientists claimed to have developed a single vaccine that can provide dual protection against coronavirus and influenza, and has been tested successfully on mice. 

Researchers from Shanghai-based Fudan University presented the new vaccine in a study published recently in the Journal of Virology, saying they designed an immunogen by fusing the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain to the conserved stalk of H7N9 hemagglutinin and expressed it using a chimpanzee adenovirus vector. 

When tested on mice, the constructed vaccine, named AdC68-CoV/Flu, effectively induced both SARS-CoV-2-targeting antibodies and anti-influenza antibodies, providing protection from SARS-CoV-2 (including its emerging variants) and H7N9 infection, according to the study. 

H7N9 is a bird flu strain and it is most likely to cause an epidemic in winter and spring. 

The results suggest the novel vaccine as a promising approach to curbing respiratory virus-causing pandemics, said the study.