A disabled York pensioner has taken health secretary Matt Hancock to task for claiming that all over-70s who want the Covid jab have been offered it.

Gill Thompson, who is 73 and disabled after contracting polio as a child, says she wants to have the vaccine because without it she feels vulnerable.

But she says she hasn't so far been offered the jab - and even if she was, because she is housebound, she wouldn't be able to get to the mass vaccination site at Askham Bar to have it.

“There must be lots of people in my position,” she said. “It makes me cross when Matt Hancock says that anybody who is over 70 who wants the vaccine has had it.”

The government says that everyone in the top four Covid priority groups - ie everyone over 70 - has ‘had a jab offer’.

Mrs Thompson, who lives alone in Woodthorpe, uses a walking frame and calipers to get around inside the house - but if she goes out, needs a wheelchair.

Her husband Mike, who used to drive her, passed away in 2019. Her son Jonathan, who is a care worker, cannot drive - although he does help her out around the house when he can.

Mrs Thompson says she hasn’t been out of the house since March 11 last year. She couldn't even use a taxi to get to Askham Bar, she says: she'd need to use a wheelchair and the driver wouldn't be able to help her because of social distancing.

She said her GP practice, the York Medical Group, had told she was ‘on a list’ to have the jab at home. “But there is no idea when that might be,” she said.

York Medical Group chief executive Zulf Ali said he couldn't comment on individual patients. "However (we) would like to reassure readers that all clinically assessed housebound patients will receive the vaccine at home," he said. "All other patients will continue to be invited to ...Askham Bar."

He insisted Mrs Thompson had been invited to have the jab at Askham Bar, but had instead requested vaccination at home. But he stressed that the practice had not forgotten about her.

York Medical Group nurses were visiting housebound patients in their homes to give the jab - often after a full day at work, he said. "Mrs Thompson will get the vaccine. Either we will assess her for a home visit or send a further invite for vaccination at the mass vaccination site. There is support for patients needing assistance at the site, with wheelchairs available."

The council has been working with Nimbuscare - which represents a consortium of 11 GP practices, including York Medical Group - to vaccinate elderly people living in council ‘independent living communities’. Nimbuscare clinical lead Prof Mike Holmes said: “It’s really important that people over 70 who cannot get to the vaccination centre are protected.”

Not all over-70s who want the jab have had it - Letter