Vaccinated travellers should soon be able to visit the United Kingdom without any testing requirements on arrival, The Times reports. This would also affect UK nationals returning home after travelling overseas.
Transport Minister Grant Shapps is reported by UK media to be strongly in favour of ending the testing system entirely for fully vaccinated arrivals.
An announcement on the change in guidance is expected to be made next week on January 26.
Currently, the only testing mandate for vaxxed travellers arriving in the UK is the requirement to book and pay, before flying, for either a PCR or rapid antigen COVID-19 test, to be taken by the end of day two of arrival. These travellers must also complete a passenger locator form no less than 48 hours before coming to the UK, a requirement that looks set to stay in place.
The relaxation in testing regulations will follow on the heels of the recent decision to scrap pre-departure PCR testing for all vaxxed UK arrivals, as well as the removal of quarantine requirements for South Africans, after South Africa was taken off the red list.