Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia has an “ace up its sleeve” in the global race to find and produce a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Australian Government is in “advanced negotiations” on a number of vaccines.

Mr Hunt told Ray Hadley Australia was “punching above its weight” in terms of research, and could potentially service other parts of the world once an effective vaccine is found.

“We have one particular ace up our sleeve, that is Australia’s manufacturing capability through CSL’s Parkville plant in Melbourne – they have an international gold standard [for] vaccine manufacture – they can manufacture under licence,” he said.

“I have been very cautious until now; now the data and science is looking more prospective and we are in advanced negotiations on a number of those vaccines.

“We are looking at a number [of vaccines] precisely because we don’t know which one is going to be successful, but we have been able to identify the top candidates.”

Mr Hunt said he had been cautious on the nature of a vaccine but he was more confident.

“That’s an important message of real and genuine hope.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty