Not only do some of the potential vaccines need to be stored at temperatures as low as -70C, but people will need two doses, spaced apart, for the vaccines to work.

"We're going to have to do things we've never done before to manage it," said Mrs Gray, from Peter Smith TerryWhite Chemmart.

There remains a great deal of confusion in medical circles around when and how a vaccine will be distributed.

No vaccines have yet been approved for a widespread roll-out across Australia, however the federal government has said it will likely begin in March.

At the end of 2020 the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said pharmacists should not be involved in vaccinating, however the Pharmacy Guild has argued that chemists should be part of the process, as with flu jabs.

GP Dr David Howe, who administers annual flu jabs, was concerned about storage if the Pfizer vaccine was approved, as it needed to be kept at -70C.

"I doubt any GPs would have the facility to keep a vaccine at -70C," said Dr Howe.

"I don't know if it would need to be stored in liquid nitrogen, but that is a big difference between flu vaccine storage and the Pfizer vaccine."

Mrs Gray said her pharmacy had the capacity to store vaccines at -16C to -20C, but that storing a vaccine at temperatures lower than that was not currently possible at pharmacies.

"We have a cold chain system that operates very efficiently through wholesale, delivery and vaccination fridges, but they don't go to -70C.

"So in terms of cold chain, getting it out from a central location efficiently will be a logistical issue the government will be working on, but it presents a whole range of new problems."

Dr Howe said Australians were fortunate that vaccine approval wasn't being rushed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, as it allowed medical experts to monitor and learn from foreign roll outs: "Hopefully we will see it in March or April and I think that's a fairly good time to see how it's gone overseas."

AMA NSW president Dr Danielle McMullen said involving GPs "in the planning and roll-out of COVID vaccinations will be critical to the program's success".

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