--- title: "Millionaire Couple Steals COVID Vaccine Meant for Indigenous Community" description: "A Canadian millionaire couple chose to skip the line and fly out to a remote Indigenous community to get a COVID-19 vaccine." date: "2021-01-26" modified: "2021-01-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/millionaire-couple-covid-vaccine-indigenous-community" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" --- # Millionaire Couple Steals COVID Vaccine Meant for Indigenous Community ![A Canadian millionaire couple chose to skip the line and fly out to a remote Indigenous community to get a COVID-19 vaccine.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* In a rage-inducing act of distilled self-entitlement, Canadian casino mogul Rodney Baker and wife Ekaterina Baker decided to skip the line to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in a remote community deep inside Canada's Yukon northwest territory. Worst of all, the shots were meant to go to members of the White River First Nation. Getting vaccines distributed in some of the most remote Indigenous communities [is no easy feat](), but a COVID-19 outbreak in such remote areas could prove disastrous. The millionaire couple flew out from Vancouver on a chartered plane. They promised to spend two weeks in quarantine in Whitehorse, Yukon — but didn't, [*The Washington Post* reports](). In other words, not only did the couple violate shelter-in-place orders, but they also risked bringing the virus with them to the White River First Nation community. Unsurprisingly, the news was met with outrage. "I can’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard of such a despicable, disgusting sense of entitlement and lack of a moral compass," British Columbia solicitor general, Mike Farnworth, said in [a statement](), as quoted by *The Vancouver Sun*. "I think they should be ashamed of themselves," BC provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said. "They put a community at risk for their own benefit, and that to me is appalling." The Bakers are unlikely to face any serious official repercussions. All they got was a slap on the wrist by BC's provincial government in the form of a $900 fine for violating local quarantine guidelines, as *The Washington Post* reports. Baker made more than $10 million in 2019 and owns more than 20 casinos across Canada as part of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation. He is also subject of a [money laundering probe](), according Canadian news outlet *Global News*. Baker has since [resigned]() from his post as CEO, however. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()