Free lateral flow tests could be scrapped within weeks, the Times reports.
Senior Whitehall sources have reportedly told the newspaper that Boris Johnson is set to announce new plans for 'living with covid' in the coming weeks.
Already more than £6 billion of public money has been spent on mass testing across the country using the devices, the paper says.
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The new system could mean that only high-risk settings such as care homes, hospitals, schools and people with symptoms could benefit from free tests.
A senior Whitehall source told the Times: "I don’t think we are in a world where we can continue to hand out free lateral flow tests to everybody for evermore.
"It’s likely we will move to a scenario where there is less testing but where we have a capacity to ramp it up if necessary, such as in the winter."
It comes after scientists and government ministers suggested that the wave of Omicron infections could in fact help the transition of the virus from a pandemic to endemic.
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group told Times Radio that in the long term, coronavirus could become less severe.
"The thing that might happen in the future is you may see the emergence of a new variant that is less severe, and ultimately, in the long term, what happens is Covid becomes endemic and you have a less severe version," he said.
"It’s very similar to the common cold that we’ve lived with for many years.
"We’re not quite there yet but possibly Omicron is the first ray of light there that suggests that may happen in the longer term.
"It is, of course, much more transmissible than Delta was, which is concerning, but much less severe."
Under the existing system, there is an unlimited number of free lateral flow tests, with the public urged to test twice a week. Those with symptoms can request a free PCR test.
Lateral flow tests produce a result more quickly but are less reliable than PCR tests. People can order boxes online or collect them from pharmacies.
At least 230 million lateral flow test results have been recorded in England, although the true number could be well over a billion.
