The British scientist who led the research underpinning AstraZeneca's coronavirus jab has said a new vaccine could be developed against the emerging Omicron variant “very rapidly” if needed, reports AFP.

Professor Andrew Pollard, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, also said existing vaccines should work against the new strain, but that would only become apparent after more research in the coming weeks.

“It's extremely unlikely that a reboot of a pandemic in a vaccinated population like we saw last year (with the Delta variant) is going to happen,” he told BBC radio.

But if required, “The processes of how one goes about developing a new vaccine are increasingly well-oiled, so if it's needed that is something that could be moved very rapidly.”