An affluent couple in Canada has reportedly been ticketed and charged after they flew to a remote area largely inhabited by indigenous people to receive coronavirus vaccines.
Casino executive Rodney Baker, 55, and his wife, 32-year-old actress Ekaterina Baker, flew from Vancouver to the village of Beaver Creek and represented themselves “in various ways” to get vaccinated, Yukon News reported on Monday.
The couple reportedly showed up at a local mobile clinic intended to distribute the vaccine to the native White River First Nation and claimed to be workers at a nearby motel, according to The Washington Post.
“I can’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard of such a despicable, disgusting sense of entitlement and lack of a moral compass,” Mike Farnworth, the British Columbia solicitor general, told the Vancouver Sun.
The Post reported Baker earned more than $10.6 million in 2019, and his wife has recent movie credits in films including “Fatman” and “Chick Fight.”
The couple were reportedly fined $1,150 each for their actions.
Chief Angela Demit told the Post the White River First Nation wants to see the couple severely prosecuted.
“It’s clear to me that because we are a predominantly indigenous community, that they assumed we were naïve,” Demit said.
Local police told the CBC the couple first flew to Whitehorse, promising to quarantine for two weeks after landing. They then chartered a private flight and headed to Beaver Creek.
Proof of residency is not required to receive a coronavirus vaccine in the Yukon.
Health officials in Canada have spent recent weeks trying to get as many vaccines as possible to native indigenous populations in remote areas, which studies show have a greater risk of contracting and experiencing severe complications from the virus.