Federal health minister Greg Hunt says he's "cautiously but genuinely optimistic" that a coronavirus vaccine will be available by next year.
The government was in "advanced negotiations" with a range of different companies regarding a vaccine and close to signing a deal that would allow production in Australia, he told Sky News on Sunday.
"I am now, on the basis of our best medical advice, more optimistic. I think the world is moving closer to a vaccine," Mr Hunt said.
When asked when the vaccine was likely to be available, he said medical advice suggested 2021 was the most likely time frame.
"If anything occurs before then that would be an outstanding result, not just for Australia, but the world," Mr Hunt said. "For the first time, I feel cautiously but genuinely optimistic about the prospect of a vaccine."
Mr Hunt could not reveal the names of companies the government had entered negotiations with due to non-disclosure agreements but described it as a "ray of hope".
Labor's health spokesperson, Chris Bowen, said Australia had fallen behind other countries in securing a vaccine deal, calling on Mr Hunt to "assure us that we are not at a disadvantage because we are so far behind the rest of the world".
"Three billion doses of the vaccine have already been accounted for, through 20 other agreements being entered into by other governments," he said.
"We should not put all our eggs in the one basket, we should be managing risks and investing in multiple vaccines and striking multiple agreements, so Australia is at the best place to have access to it."
Across the world, on Sunday, Russian health officials reported announced they had produced the first batch of a vaccine, called Sputnik V, .
Days earlier, the European Union announced they had reached a deal with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to buy 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.
More than 21 million people have now tested positive to coronavirus around the world, leading to more than 760,000 deaths.
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