Wealthy Canadian couple chartered a plane to the Yukon, got vaccines meant for Indigenous elders, authorities said Updated: January 26
Share on Facebook
Print article Located deep in Canada’s Yukon near the Alaska border, the community of Beaver Creek is home to only about 100 people, most of them members of the White River First Nation. So when an unfamiliar couple who claimed to work at a local motel showed up at a mobile clinic to receive coronavirus vaccines, it didn’t take long for locals to become suspicious. Authorities soon found that the pair were actually wealthy Vancouver residents who had chartered a private plane to the Alaska Highway outpost so that they could get shots intended to protect vulnerable Indigenous elders.
The former head of one of Canada s largest casino companies and his actor wife have been charged after skipping the queue to receive a coronavirus vaccine by using doses meant for a vulnerable indigenous community.
Rodney and Ekaterina Baker allegedly chartered a private plane to Beaver Creek, a remote community in Yukon territory near the Alaska border, where a mobile team were administering the Moderna vaccine to the village of 100 indigenous residents.
Among villagers in line for the vaccine were the White River First Nation, who were prioritised for administration of the vaccine due to their high-risk elderly population, Chief Angela Demit, a language councillor for the indigenous group, said.