Canadian couple secretly gets vaccine meant for indigenous people, may face jail time

A couple in Canada secretly travelled to a remote community to receive a coronavirus vaccine. Casino executive Rodney Baker and his wife, Ekaterina Baker, an actor, got themselves vaccines which were made for vulnerable and elderly Indigenous residents. Now, the couple might have to face some time in the jail, reports The Guardian. 

'Widely condemned'

After violating the Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act, the couple was fined C$2,300. However, the community leaders argued that the penalty would be insignificant for the wealthy couple. As a consequence, Rodney resigned from his position. Records show that he made a C$45.9m profit on stock options over the past 13 months. After it was exposed that the couple took a plane to a remote community in the Yukon territory, the couple was ‘widely condemned’. 

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Minister John Streicker said that he was outraged by this ‘selfish’ behaviour. He also said that all of the Yukoners are outraged. As per the reports by The Guardian, the couple has been charged with failing to self-isolate for 14 days and failing to act in a manner consistent. On May 4, they have a hearing at the Whitehorse court.

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A 'temporary' delay 

In another significant development, Canadian federal officials reported  that there will be a "temporary" delay in Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipments. This was due to the pharmaceutical giant's expansion plans at its European manufacturing facility. According to the reports by AP, Alberta's Health Minister Tyler Shandro said the shortage will result in an average of 50 per cent of coming doses being delayed each week. Shandro said, “While unfortunate, such delays and issues are possible when global supply chains are stretched and pushed and demand is high throughout the rest of the world”.

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(Image Credits: Facebook/EkaterinaBaker)