Australia signs two more deals for 50 million vaccine doses

Under the new agreements with two American companies, Australia will have access to 40 million doses of the Novavax vaccine and 10 million doses of the vaccine by Pfizer and German company BioNTech.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce the new deals on Thursday, which are on top of two deals already signed with the University of Queensland and Australian pharmaceutical company CSL, and AstraZeneca for the Oxford University vaccine.

It means Australia has now signed deals for four different vaccine candidates, covering three different vaccine technologies.

"The goal and the expectation is that Australians who sought vaccination will be vaccinated within 2021," Health Minister Greg Hunt said.

"There are no surprises, health and aged care workers and the elderly and vulnerable will be the first to gain access to a vaccine that's deemed safe and effective."

The Novavax vaccine candidate is in phase two and phase three trials, and uses a common protein plus adjuvant technology. It's expected two doses will be needed for each person, meaning 20 million people could be vaccinated with this vaccine. It will be manufactured in the United States and the Czech Republic.

The Pfizer vaccine candidate uses new mRNA technology that has yet to be successfully used in any vaccine around the world but is in phase two and three trials. It would be manufactured in the United States, Belgium and Germany.

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The government says its total commitment for vaccine candidates is $3.2 billion, and signing up for a diverse range of candidates gives the country a better chance of giving people access to vaccines as soon as they become available.

"By securing multiple COVID-19 vaccines we are giving Australians the best shot at early access to a vaccine, should trials prove successful," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

"We aren't putting all our eggs in one basket and we will continue to pursue further vaccines should our medical experts recommend them."

All the vaccine candidates under deals with the Australian government still need to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, but the agency has already been in talks with some of the companies in preparation for assessment.

"There are no guarantees that these vaccines will prove successful, however our strategy puts Australia at the front of the queue, if our medical experts give the vaccines the green light," Mr Morrison said.

More detail has also been provided about how a potential vaccine would be rolled out, with the government consulting with state and territory governments, industry peak bodies and medical experts about the framework for an initial rollout.

General practices, respiratory clinics, state and territory vaccination sites and workplaces such as aged care facilities are likely to be key vaccination sites.

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