Quebecer dead from blood clot identified as Francine Boyer

MONTREAL – Francine Boyer has been identified as the 54-year-old Quebecer who died from a blood clot after she received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Hers is first fatality in Canada linked to the shot.

Alain Serres, Boyer’s husband, confirmed her identity in a press release Tuesday night after Quebec Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda confirmed the death at a government update on the COVID-19 situation earlier in the day.

READ MORE: Quebecer dies from blood clot after getting COVID-19 vaccine

Originally from Saint-Rémi, south of Montreal, the mother of two and grandmother, died on April 23.

Her family is asking for privacy through their press release. Her husband posted to social media, “I love you and I will love you forever!”

Serres encouraged people who get the vaccine to stay alert for symptoms or unusual reactions and to contact Info-Santé (811) if in doubt.

The release says that Serres and Boyer received their first dose of the vaccine on April 9 and that over the next few days, Boyer experienced “great fatigue along with headaches,” but her husband had no side effects.

Boyer went to the nearest hospital and was transferred to the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital before she died of cerebral thrombosis, according to the statement.

At the Tuesday press conference, Arruda said that this was a sad but rare event.

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“We knew that it might happen. We have a risk of default one in every 100,000 doses today,” he said, adding that the benefits outweigh the risks.

“People don’t get vaccinated to die. It’s rare, and we can’t predict it, but for the population at large, vaccination remains beneficial.”

More than 400,000 people have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the province so far.