How privilege is growing outside the pandemic
Those residing in Beaver Creek, Yukon, expressed their disbelief as a millionaire Canadian couple Rodney and Ekaterina Baker flew into the community in late January. They claimed they were locals to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, as those residing in the territory are more susceptible to the virus and get priority in receiving the doses. As the Yukon’s Moderna vaccine batch was solely for the local community, many expressed their anger towards the couple’s actions, demanding justice.
Currently, the limited batches of COVID-19 vaccines in Canada are for certain groups of people such as older adults and frontline workers, making it difficult for the population that don’t fall into these groups to get vaccinated. The bigger issue is that many Canadians are waiting their turn to receive the vaccine — the ability for this couple to obtain doses quicker because of their wealth translates into how privilege is an arbiter in who can get vaccinated against the virus quicker.