Compulsory shots too late for my dad: Frenchwoman

Johanna Cohen-Ganouna lost her father Fabien to COVID-19.

And she is clear about who is to blame – the hospital.

She believes her father contracted COVID-19 after coming into contact with an infected hospital worker.

And is now threatening to sue the French government for not making vaccinations compulsory months ago.

"How do I feel today? Well, I feel a lot of anger, a lot of sadness. I really want justice to be served and for everyone to get vaccinated, for everyone to be aware of what's happening, that going in contact with a patient is a risk when they're not vaccinated."

She spoke to Reuters a day after President Emmanuel Macron announced vaccinations would be mandatory for healthcare workers. The French government did not respond to a request for comment.

The authority that operates Paris hospitals said it had provided information to her and offered her a meeting with a senior doctor about his care, which she refused.

"My father was admitted to hospital on March 13 for hip fracture. Upon admission, he was subject to a PCR test that was negative. A couple of days later, he remained negative, and the third test was positive. So he contracted the virus in hospital from hospital staff. He didn't have visitation rights, so it's surely hospital workers who infected him, and unfortunately, he died on May 2 because of COVID."

Her lawyer is arguing that by not making it mandatory for health care workers to get vaccinated, the government had put Fabien in danger.

The family is seeking compensation, and will take the case to an administrative court if their demand is not met within two months.