# Vaccine queue jumpers face charges in Yukon
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone
**Tags:** covid-quarantine
**Created:** [January 31, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933 "2021-01-31T18:34:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/1 "2021-01-31T18:34:01Z")
Recent news story: A CEO of a casino in BC and his wife are alleged to have flown north to Whitehorse, Yukon, then immediately taken a local plane to the First Nation community of Beaver Creek, on the Alaska border, and got COVID vaccines by posing as essential workers.
Never mind that the reason the inhabitants of Beaver Creek are a priority for vaccination is because of the isolation and limited health facilities that far north, so an outbreak could be deadly to the community. Casino CEOs are entitled to their vaccine, dammit!
Uh, no. They’ve been charged with breaching Yukon’s mandatory quarantine rules and face a court date in May, on charges under the territorial Civil Emergency Measures Act. If convicted, could be fined and possible jailed.
He is now the former CEO of the casino.
And the government of BC has advised that even though the two of them got the first shot of the vaccine, they will not get the second shot until August, which is when they were originally eligible for a vaccine - queue-jumping doesn’t count. (It may speed up, of course, if more doses come available in coming months, but they’ll still be on the regular schedule, it sounds like.)
> **[Court date set for B.C. couple accused of jumping vaccine queue in Yukon |...](https://globalnews.ca/news/7605146/bc-couple-vaccine-queue-jumpers-yukon-court-date/)**
>
> The B.C. government says Rod and Ekaterina Baker will not be eligible for the second dose of the vaccine in the province until August.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/2 "2021-01-31T19:23:05Z")
One hopes they didn’t bring COVID to Beaver Creek. But if anybody there does turn up ill in the next few days it’d be appropriate to charge these folks with something between reckless endangerment and manslaughter.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/3 "2021-01-31T19:31:04Z")
Would somebody in the community who is unable to get the vaccine have standing to sue the Bakers?
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### Author:  [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/4 "2021-01-31T21:10:59Z")
Can’t imagine how that’s possible.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/5 "2021-01-31T21:16:53Z")
Why? Do you feel it’s not possible because no individual person could show they personally were the ones who were denied vaccine by the Bakers’ actions? Or do you feel nobody could show harm that was caused by being denied vaccine?
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### Author:  [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/6 "2021-01-31T21:19:07Z")
Well, both. I mean, could anyone with a delay in their vaccine sue any queue jumper? What damages are you going to show?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/7 "2021-01-31T21:45:56Z")
> [@FigNorton](#):
>
> I mean, could anyone with a delay in their vaccine sue any queue jumper?
I doubt it. I don’t think I could sue the Bakers because I wouldn’t be able to offer evidence that the vaccines they took under false pretenses might have otherwise been given to me. Because I’m not a member of the First Nation community of Beaver Creek.
But if I was a member of the First Nation community of Beaver Creek? Then yes, I think I could make a plausible argument that the vaccines they took might have been given to me.
> [@FigNorton](#):
>
> What damages are you going to show?
People die due to contracting Covid. Other people experience serious health problems due to contracting Covid. Vaccines reduce your chance of contracting Covid. So preventing a person from receiving vaccine increase their chance of contracting Covid and thereby dying or experiencing serious health problems.
Avoiding contracting Covid requires people to practice burdensome behavior such as staying home and thereby not working. It also causes psychological stress by forcing people to exist in social isolation. Denying somebody immunity via vaccination forces that person to follow these burdensome behaviors to a greater extent.
Endangering somebody’s life or health, hurting their employment opportunities, causing emotional distress; these are all damages that people have been awarded compensation for in lawsuits.
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### Author:  [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/8 "2021-01-31T22:13:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Endangering somebody’s life or health,
Pretty sure you have to cause actual harm.
It all sounds rather improbable. Doubly so because it’s in Canada which is less friendly to stupid lawsuits. For instance, it’s my understanding suing for “emotional distress” isn’t really a thing.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/9 "2021-01-31T22:24:42Z")
I like how they had to walk back to the airport because nobody in the entire town would give them a ride. 😆
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/10 "2021-01-31T22:33:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Would somebody in the community who is unable to get the vaccine have standing to sue the Bakers?
Per wiki the population of Beaver Creek is about 100 people.
Sounds like the authorities probably had a vaccination clinic for a few hours one day and the traveling health team from down-country brought a box of vaccine vials along. If by bad luck these two clowns showing up meant the health team was one or two shots short there’d be a somebody doing without. But ISTM it’s pretty unlikely that the traveling health team would plan their supply of vaccine that close to the bone.
This _is_ a global crisis, but it’s not quite like the health/vaccine emergency that’s commemorated by the Iditarod:
> **[1925 serum run to Nome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_serum_run_to_Nome)**
>
> The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the U.S. territory of Alaska by 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs across 674 miles (1,085 km) in .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);...
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/11 "2021-02-01T01:55:58Z")
> [@FigNorton](#):
>
> Pretty sure you have to cause actual harm.
>
> It all sounds rather improbable. Doubly so because it’s in Canada which is less friendly to stupid lawsuits. For instance, it’s my understanding suing for “emotional distress” isn’t really a thing.
You’re wrong.
[Suing for Emotional Distress: Examples & Potential Damages](https://valientemott.com/blog/blog-suing-for-emotional-distress/#:~:text=The%20courts%20recognize%20emotional%20distress,evidence%20to%20support%20your%20claims).
Do I also need to provide cites for how you can sue somebody for endangering your life or health or hurting your employment opportunities?
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/12 "2021-02-01T01:59:26Z")
It was a stupid thing to do. It was a stupid way to do it. And some scientists believe that for every case of Covid there could be three undiagnosed ones - meaning the vaccine might be less helpful than they thought. (You should still get vaccinated.)
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### Author:  [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/13 "2021-02-01T02:10:31Z")
I said it wasn’t allowed in Canada. You can find your own cites for that.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/14 "2021-02-01T02:10:35Z")
I don’t think that a discussion of the law by lawyers practising in Nevada and Utah is particularly germane to the facts of this case.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/15 "2021-02-01T02:27:47Z")
Here’s a cite from Canada.
> **[Suing For Emotional Distress / Psychological Impairment following Accident or...](https://contelawyers.ca/suing-for-emotional-distress-in-whitby-oshawa/)**
>
> Emotional or psychological distress is often dismissed as inconsequential compared to physical injury. Most people don’t consider that emotional scars take longer to heal and can cause permanent…
No doubt you will now insist that you meant emotion distress “isn’t really a thing” in the Yukon Territory. And if I provide a cite for that, you’ll want one from the First Nation community of Beaver Creek.
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### Author:  [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccine-queue-jumpers-face-charges-in-yukon/931933/16 "2021-02-01T03:08:43Z")
Yes, no doubt. That’s totally me.