A SoulCycle instructor has apologized for "a terrible error in judgment" for calling herself an educator to get a Covid-19 vaccine.
In a since-deleted post on social media, Stacey Griffith, a New York-based fitness instructor, said she filled out paperwork and drove an hour to Staten Island to receive her first dose of the Moderna vaccine, according to The Daily Beast.
"Now I can teach @soulcycle with a little more faith that we're all gonna be ok if we get the [vaccine]," Griffith's post read. She told The Daily Beast that her role as an "educator" made her eligible to get in the front of the line for a vaccination.
Her post raised questions and sparked outrage. Mayor Bill de Blasio also called out Griffith's vaccination as problematic.
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"Doesn't sound like someone who should have gotten vaccinated to me,” he said Sunday at a news conference. "I don't think someone who shows up and says, 'Hey, I'm a Soul Cycle instructor,' should have qualified unless there's some other factor there. That should have been caught in the application process.”
Initially, Griffith, 52, defended her decision to jump the line and get the Covid-19 jab along with other educators.
"All teachers are eligible to apply for the vaccine. My post today was to show my confidence in the system, in our government, and I hope everyone can at least feel more at ease knowing I went through the process," she told The Daily Beast.
On Monday, however, Griffith backpedaled and posted a public apology on her Instagram page.
"I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent action in receiving the vaccine," Griffith wrote. "I made a terrible error in judgment and for that I am truly sorry."
The spin instructor did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment, and SoulCycle said Griffith operated in a "personal capacity" in applying for the vaccine.
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"SoulCycle plays no role in organizing or obtaining vaccinations for instructors or other employees, nor do we encourage any of our SoulCycle employees to seek vaccine priority as educators," a SoulCycle spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.
As of now, those who are eligible in New York City for the vaccine include people 65 and older, public-facing grocery store workers, first responders, teachers and school administrators, public transit operators, and people living and working in homeless shelters. But it does not include gym employees or fitness instructors.
According to NBC's count, officials have administered more than 1 million doses across New York, with only 1.8 percent of the population fully vaccinated in the state.
