Over-50s to be offered health checks with autumn Covid vaccine boosters

Over-50s will be offered health MOTs alongside their booster jabs this autumn under NHS plans.

Sir Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, said health checks such as blood pressure screening and cholesterol measurements, which help to identify health problems in the middle aged, would be on offer alongside the vaccines.

The programme – which may also involve lung cancer checks – aims to catch potentially deadly conditions earlier, when they are easier to treat.

It comes amid concern that lockdown has fuelled more sedentary lives and unhealthy living, when two in three adults are already overweight or obese.

Health chiefs hope offering checks at village halls, sports centres, churches and mosques will ensure widespread take-up.

The NHS is currently preparing to offer booster jabs against new Covid variants to all over-50s, with rollout starting as soon as the autumn. Trials are examining whether responses are better if people are given a booster dose with a different type of vaccine or the same one they had previously had.

Sir Simon said: "In the autumn and winter, when we are likely to offer third Covid booster shots, we'll also begin offering the option of other health check-ups too. Perhaps blood pressure screening, cholesterol, possibly some of the lung cancer screening in parts of the country where there is a high background level of risk."

Watch: The world’s most unusual vaccination centers

The NHS chief said "much brighter days" are now within reach thanks to the vaccination programme, with just 142 Covid patients now in intensive care in England – down from 3,700 three months ago.

Sir Simon recently announced plans to step down on July 31, the target date for every adult to receive their first dose of a Covid vaccine.

He told The Sun: "We're in a far better place than anybody could have imagined back in the dark days of winter. The NHS vaccination campaign is increasingly breaking the link between infections and hospitalisations. All the signs are that the vaccines and booster jabs will do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of keeping us all safe.

"So that's the big game-changer. As long as we don't squander the gains we've won, then vaccines will help us to keep one step ahead of the virus, with much brighter days ahead. If progress continues at our current rate, most experts now say we should see a steady return to normal over the coming months.

"But we'll all benefit if the whole world can be vaccinated because the pressures in many other countries are still enormous – for example in India, but also even today in France where there are 30 times more Covid patients in intensive care in French hospitals than there are here in Britain. We're now at under 150 in English intensive care units."

Watch: How do people feel about the AstraZeneca vaccine?