The invitations are now out to set up "end-to-end" onshore mRNA vaccine manufacturing.

Being able to deal with an emergency and cover the entire Australian population with vaccine doses in a relatively short period of time is a key requirement, with the federal government now asking manufacturers to make their case and bid for a 10-year deal. Interested parties now have eight weeks to outline the cost and how they would meet government demand - in this pandemic and others yet to come.

Biopharmaceutical giant CSL, which is making 50 million doses of the rival AstraZeneca vaccine in Melbourne, is looking to expand.

"We welcome the Australian government's approach to market on onshore mRNA manufacturing capability and will now look through the details - as previously indicated, we are looking to participate," said Dr Lorna Meldrum, Seqirus's vice-president for pandemic readiness.

"As with any tender process, we are unable to go into more specific details.

"We are Australia's only onshore vaccine manufacturer, with an existing workforce, facilities and expertise - and we are actively looking at ways to use this in the mRNA space."

The University of Adelaide regards the move to onshore mRNA as "fantastic news" and is flagging working with the international biotech company BioCina.

"I think South Australia is in the box seat in terms of its available infrastructure already in place to really do this effectively, cheaply and quickly," the University's deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Anton Middelberg, told The Canberra Times.

"We would be seeking the support by BioCina with our research ability, so whether we are a formal part of that bid or not we are yet to determine."

It is cutting-edge technology, and while the government says it is "moving quickly" to establish mRNA production capability in Australia, it is also warning it will not address any immediate issues with supplies or the vaccine rollout.

Industry Minister Christian Porter said the government had been advised that the process to establish the onshore capability would take around a year or more.

"If someone thinks they can do it, we are very interested in that," he told reporters. "But it will likely be somewhat longer than 12 months."

The University of Queensland was also named by the Industry Minister on Friday as a potential proponent. The university last month announced a federally funded pilot program to produce mRNA vaccines and cancer therapies, and while it has welcomed the approach to market, when approached it indicated the proposal was more suited to a commercial entity.

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"This is an important step in Australia's ability to drive advanced biomanufacturing and should come as part of a broader industry attraction strategy," the university's Professor Trent Munro told The Canberra Times.

mRNA vaccines are the vaccines currently produced by Pfizer and Moderna. Different from viral vector-type vaccines like AstraZeneca, which use double-stranded DNA, mRNA vaccines are a relatively new type of vaccine used in the fight against coronavirus.

Australia has contracts for the delivery of 40 million Pfizer doses, but there have been supply problems as it has been produced offshore. The government has announced a deal with Moderna to purchase 25 million vaccine doses, which are due to arrive late this year.

Moderna has already confirmed it is in discussions with the federal government about the possibility of producing its own mRNA vaccine.

The mRNA move comes amid significant vaccine complacency, or hesitancy, in Australia, and calls to combat this with a strengthened public awareness campaign to encourage Australians to get vaccinated.

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