Donated from the Golden Casket, the funds will be given to the University of Queensland’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, one of six research facilities across the globe tasked with developing the vaccine.

It is hoped the additional funding allows the research centre to create a vaccine quicker than previously targeted – a publicly available vaccine was expected to take up to 18 months to materialise.

University of Queensland Project Director Dr Trent Munro said: “This gift will help significantly accelerate vaccine development efforts – allowing us to move more activities to happen in parallel – and we are incredibly grateful for the support.  

“Additional funding means we can act now to work towards developing a safe and effective vaccine as quickly as we can to protect vulnerable people, including the elderly and healthcare workers."