Pharmaceutical company Moderna aims to have its Omicron-specific COVID-19 booster vaccine on the market by the third quarter of 2022.
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The first participant has received a jab as part of US trials aimed at improving third-dose protection against the strain.
"(It's) a relatively short timeline from where we are today to when, potentially, we could have an Omicron-specific booster available in Australia," Moderna's Australian boss Michael Azrak told AAP on Thursday.
He added the company hasn't had "any firm discussions as yet" with the federal government for future supplies of the vaccine.
"We've just kept the government abreast of today's news so that they're aware of the study and we will continue our dialogue as the data progresses."
Moderna expects to trial the vaccine on around 600 adults, looking at the effectiveness and safety of the Omicron-specific shot.
It will be tested against two groups, those had their second Moderna dose at least six months ago as well as people who received a booster at least three months prior.
Moderna data published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows only 55 per cent of patients had neutralising antibodies against Omicron six months after a second dose.
But these antibodies still could be detected in all patients who received a booster at the six-month mark, after their second dose.
"Versus the ancestral strain, or what they sometimes referred to as the Wuhan strain, we do see a waning of protection versus Omicron, a faster waning of protection," Mr Azrak said.
As the pandemic rolls on, Mr Azrak anticipates yearly vaccines to combat variants.
"We will be moving toward an annual type of booster similar to the flu (vaccine), where we will look at the prevailing strains and then developing a vaccine specific to those at that point in time," Mr Azrak said.
"When will we get there? I just don't have that answer."
Australian Associated Press
