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Boris Johnson will announce this week that he is scrapping plans that would have required vaccine passports for entry to nightclubs, cinemas and sports grounds.

On Tuesday, the prime minister will announce plans to try to keep Covid under control over the winter. He will say that he has abandoned the proposed compulsory certification scheme, which would have forced venues to check people's vaccine status.

Johnson tore up the proposals after scientists said vaccinations would be an effective first line of defence against a winter wave of the pandemic. But the move also represents a significant concession to Tory backbench rebels who had complained that enforcing vaccine passports would create a group of second-class citizens.

Companies that already demand proof of vaccination will be able to continue but the new "toolbox" of measures will introduce masks and home-working only if rates soar.

The announcement will also mark the start of the government's booster programme, with millions set to get a third jab this autumn.

The full details will be decided when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reports to ministers tomorrow, but the timetable is expected to mirror that for first injections, with the elderly and vulnerable jabbed first.

The four chief medical officers will also unveil plans to start vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds, with parental consent, beginning on September 22.

Double-jabbed travellers need no longer take expensive PCR tests when returning to Britain under plans expected to be announced, the Mail on Sunday reported. They will be replaced by lateral flow tests instead, set to happen before the half-term holidays.

In a further sign that the government will not impose another full lockdown, Johnson will reveal that the government is repealing some of the most draconian coronavirus legislation. Ministers will keep the right to force schools to stay open and make firms pay statutory sick pay, but powers to close down sectors of the economy will end.

The ability to detain those who are infectious will also be scrapped.

The plan is a response to the way infections have evolved over the summer — a much lower level than scientific models predicted earlier this year when restrictions were eased.

A senior government source said: "Vaccines are the first line of defence. We have listened to MPs on certification. We don't see the need for it so we will hold it in reserve. Only if things get much worse would we look at masks or a return to working from home."

Ministers are also preparing to scrap the travel traffic light system and will treat green and amber list countries the same. The red list will remain.

It is understood that people who have been doubled-jabbed will be allowed to visit any country with similar Covid rates to the UK without the need to self-isolate. Ministers are also considering travel industry demands to remove the necessity of Covid testing.