A Wellington pensioner is calling for action after being told she cannot have a Covid-19 booster jab until November – in Taunton.

Monica Summers, 81, does not drive and cannot walk far, and finds even the bus stop is too far from her home in Baynes Close.

But she has been told the only available vaccination sites are at Boots in Taunton High Street – some distance from the bus station – or Lisieux Way, which is even further away.

“I think it’s a disgrace,” she said. “For the first two vaccinations, there was a centre on the Wellington Hospital site but that’s not happening now and the GP practices aren’t giving the jabs, either.

“There was such a wonderful service in the town when the vaccinations first started – can’t something along those lines be done for the boosters? Why is there not at least one facility in Wellington?

“Surely they can get some volunteers to set up one clinic in Wellington, simply for Wellington people. The town was so well organised before but now we have to add to the numbers wanting vaccinations in Taunton.”

Mrs Summers said she received a letter from the NHS telling her which number to ring to book an appointment – which was how she discovered there was nowhere closer than Taunton.

And she said was not the only person affected: “For example, there’s an elderly gentleman near me who is virtually housebound. He hasn’t been able to get a booster, either.”

Mayor of Wellington Mark Lithgow said lack of volunteers was not the problem ‘there are enough volunteers’.

He added that Mrs Summers has his moral support: “I would like to see a vaccination facility in Wellington because not having one is making it difficult for a lot of people.”