Dona Eloína lived in a geriatric residence in the Santana neighborhood. (Photo: Itamar Aguiar/Palácio Piratini)
The first person to receive the covid vaccine in Rio Grande do Sul (in January 2021), retiree Eloína Gonçalves Born passed away this Tuesday (26) in Porto Alegre, aged 102. The cause of death was not reported by the nursing home where she lived, in the Santana neighborhood.
The elderly woman – who would have turned 103 years old on July 24th – left behind a son, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The family said goodbye to Dona Eloína in the late afternoon, with a cremation ceremony at the São Miguel e Almas Cemetery.
When she received the first dose of the drug Coronavac (the only one initially available in Brazil), she was already living in the geriatric institution, aged 99 years and six months. When celebrating her 100th birthday, she was honored at Palácio Piratini, with a reception by Governor Eduardo Leite – who later visited her at the residence.
The elderly woman would go through all the stages foreseen in the immunization schedule. “I like getting vaccinated! Anyone who doesn’t do it will regret it, especially because it doesn’t hurt at all”, she joked in February 2023 when the team from the Municipal Health Department arrived with the bivalent dose for her and her fellow students at the institution. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, I haven’t had Covid or had the flu.”
Official demonstration
On Tuesday afternoon, the government of Rio Grande do Sul published a text on social media alluding to Dona Eloína’s death, along with a photo of the elderly woman. One of the excerpts of the message treats the honoree as “a symbol of hope during the pandemic” and that she “will live forever in the memory and hearts of the people of Rio Grande do Sul”.
(Marcello Campos)
