The Moderna vaccine has been approved for use by Australia's medical regulator with one million doses due in September.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on Monday afternoon announced its provisional approval for the vaccine's use for Australians aged 18 and over.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the green light was an "important step" forward for the nation's vaccine rollout.
"This is another important tool we have in our battle against COVID," he told reporters from Canberra on Monday.
"We'll have it in our hands and we will have the jabs in our arms starting next month."
The Head of the TGA, Adjunct Professor John Skerritt, said Moderna's results overseas had been encouraging.
"Even after six months, it is proving to be 93 per cent efficacious against any infection, 98 per cent against severe disease and 100 per cent against death, and that's really exciting," he told reporters.
Moderna has indicated it is considering Australia as a possible destination to trial its vaccine among children aged six months to 12 years old, within its latest financial report filed in the United States.
However, Professor Skerrit said the TGA had not received a formal application from the company to run a clinical trial.
"Like many other companies in this business, they are major competitors, they are interested in testing the efficacy of their vaccines in children as young as six months. We welcome that," he said.
"[But] at this stage, there has been no application to conduct the clinical trial in Australia."
The government says the first one million doses of Moderna are expected to arrive next month.
The vaccine rollout would then be bolstered by three million doses in October, November and December.
Australia has ordered 25 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, with 15 million due to arrive from 2022.
Currently just over 22 per cent of the Australian population has been fully vaccinated, with 13.7 million doses administered since February.
This includes 47 per cent of those over 70.
The government has outlined vaccination targets of 70 per cent and 80 per cent to secure the staged reopening of Australia.
Mr Morrison said he wanted to reach the first target before the end of the year.
"Every vaccination saves lives," he said.
"Every vaccination gets Australia closer to reaching the targets."
