Today, a laboratory in Melbourne will start manufacturing 30 million doses of a successful coronavirus vaccine.
The global biotech company CSL makes the vaccine ahead of time so that, if trials prove successful, it can be released immediately.
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Oxford University, is seen as a leading global candidate against the virus.
It is hoped that if it meets all regulatory criteria, the vaccine would be ready by the first half of next year.
Data from phase three clinical trials are expected to be available before the end of December.
The vaccine will begin processing today, which will take 50 days, the Sydney Morning Herald says.
There are approximately 150 candidate COVID-19 vaccines in the works around the world, with about 40 having entered the human trial stage.
Each individual would require two doses if the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is shown to be effective.
The Australian government declared on Thursday that it had obtained access to 50 million doses of two other alternative vaccines for COVID-19.
If found to be successful against the virus, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the earliest the vaccines could be rolled out is March.