Gisele Levesque, the first person in Canada to be vaccinated against COVID-19, has died

QUEBEC CITY -- A Quebec woman who was the first person in Canada to receive a COVID-19 vaccine has died.

Gisele Levesque, 89, died on June 28 peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by family, according to the public health authority in Quebec City.

In a statement, the health authority said her death was not related to COVID-19.

Levesque received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 14 at the CHSLD St-Antoine, a long-term care home in Quebec City.

The health authority says she was the first Canadian to be inoculated in the country.

The agency describes her as a figure of hope in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

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-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 4, 2021. 

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  Gisele Levesque becomes the first Quebecer to get the COVID-19 vaccine (image: Quebec Health and Social Services)