A further 25 million vaccine doses were added to Australia's vaccine arsenal on Thursday, 15 million of which are expected to arrive in 2022.

The Moderna jabs use the same mRNA technology that is used in the Pfizer vaccine, and requires two jabs, four weeks apart. While yet to be approved for use in Australia, Moderna's vaccine is already looking promising for its ability to be tweaked to provide protection against new variants of COVID-19.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Thursday the deal with Moderna would shore up Australia's supplied this year, while also being the foundation for a "variant and booster strategy".

"Moderna is, on the advice that we have, the most advanced of the vaccine products with relation to the capacity to adapt to booster or variant requirements," he said.

Health Secretary Professor Brendan Murphy said the announcement wasn't a sign the government was changing its strategy away from the two main pillars of the rollout, the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.

"We do need to be prepared and be in a position where if we need boosters against variants or different strains of the virus, we are in a position to have those orders in place and cover it," he said.

Chair in Epidemiology at Deakin University Catherine Bennett said it showed the government was responding to signals from some of the major vaccine manufacturers that they weren't giving long-term protection against the virus.

"The simple answer is if the rumours are true, Pfizer has indicated, not formally, that a booster may be required," she said.

Globally, no vaccine against COVID-19 has been in use long enough to know if people will need to be vaccinated annually, or if a single booster shot of a different vaccine after initial vaccination may be enough to provide long-term protection.

"It's very unlikely it will end with two jabs now," Dr Bennett said.

While the medical world was always playing catch-up with the virus, Dr Bennett said ordering mRNA vaccines specifically to be boosters was shortening the catch-up time.

The challenge created by new variants showed how important it was for the vaccine to be rolled out globally to stem further infections and mutations.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was important to prepare for possible variants of the disease.

"We're now well into the phase of dealing with what's coming next because the pandemic is not going anywhere," he told Perth radio 6PR on Thursday.

The announcement by Moderna about the deal with Australia also showed promise for the government's plan to approach the market to build a local mRNA manufacturing facility.

Australia currently has no capacity to manufacture vaccines like the Pfizer and Moderna jabs, but in Tuesday's budget the government announced it would look into ways it could support the private sector to build such capacity.

"We look forward to continuing discussions with Australia about establishing potential local manufacturing opportunities," Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel said.

The Victorian and NSW governments have also announced funds going towards potential new facilities and biotech company BioCina has indicated it could produce mRNA vaccines at Pfizer's former manufacturing plant in Adelaide.

"Our hope is that we will have at least one, if not more than one, manufacturing operation in Australia. I won't make a guarantee on that, but I am confident that over the future period, we will have mRNA production in Australia," Mr Hunt said.

Medicines Australia, the industry group for medicines companies, says the private and public sectors need to work in partnership for such a venture to be successful.

"You do want to create a sustainable business model, we need to make sure there's a sustainable way for return on investment," Chief Executive Liz De Somer said.

Ms De Somer said the government also needed to assess what demand there was in the region, and ensure there was a robust supply chain for such a facility to be successful over the long term.