Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry
Image Credit: Flickr/Province of B.C.
January 25, 2021 - 5:19 PM
B.C.’s top doctor said she was disappointed by the couple who allegedly travelled to the Yukon to jump the COVID-19 vaccine queue.
“I think I am very, very saddened and disappointed that people would do that,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said today, Jan. 25.
“But I'm also heartened to know that the vast majority of people in Canada and in B.C. do not think that way, and I know that the approach that we have taken to protect those who are most vulnerable is one that they support.”
A report by The Canadian Press indicates that tickets filed with a court registry in Whitehorse last Thursday show 55-year-old Rodney Baker and Ekaterina Baker, who is 32, were each charged with one count of failing to self-isolate for 14 days and one count of failing to act in a manner consistent with their declarations upon arriving in Yukon after heading to the region for a vaccination.
The tickets were issued on Thursday under Yukon's Civil Emergency Measures Act and both face fines of $1,000, plus fees.
The allegations against them have not been proven in court and the tickets indicate the couple can challenge them.
As for where the couple will get their second dose Dr. Henry said they could likely get it in B.C.
“The same way that if we have people who are in British Columbia for their first dose and live in the Yukon or Alberta, they get their second dose there,” she said. “Immunization is free for Canadians across Canada.”
Yukon Community Services Minister John Streicker said Friday the couple who allegedly chartered a plane to Beaver Creek posed as visiting workers and received shots of COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile clinic.
Territorial enforcement officers received a call about the pair who were later intercepted at the Whitehorse airport trying to leave Yukon, he said.
Streicker said he was outraged by their actions and members of White River First Nation in Beaver Creek felt violated.
In a statement, White River Chief Angela Demit said the unwanted visitors put elders and vulnerable people at risk for selfish purposes.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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