Moderna, an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, based in Cambridge, announced that it will open an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in the Australian city of Melbourne, a first for the southern hemisphere.

The project will be based at one of Australia's largest universities, Monash, and will produce 100 million vaccine doses a year for COVID-19, influenza and other diseases.

For Australia, the facility is not only about health or science, he said, but "also about national security" after the country experienced serious vaccine shortages during the pandemic.

Melbourne, where the Moderna facility will be based, faced one of the world's longest lockdowns as authorities tried to contain the virus.