Australian coronavirus death toll rises to 126

Coatsworth told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television on Tuesday morning it was "very encouraging" that a vaccine being trialled at Oxford University in the Britain.

"The response of this vaccine has been to create increased number of antibody levels and T cell activation. Now they're the two parts of the immune system that will work in concert to protect against COVID-19," he said.

"So what we're actually seeing is that those two elements of the immune system are boosted by the vaccine. What we need to see now is that boosting actually translates into protection from COVID when it's rolled out."

It came as outbreaks of the virus in Australia continue to grow.

The national death toll has increased from 123 to 126 on Tuesday.

All three deaths between Monday and Tuesday were females in Victoria aged in their 80s, 90s and 100s.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 12,428 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia.

Victoria has confirmed 374 new cases of the virus and New South Wales (NSW) another 13. The number of active cases in Victoria has surpassed 3,000.

"Within Victoria, 62 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 312 are under investigation," said a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria on Tuesday.