SoulCycle instructor apologizes for receiving COVID-19 vaccine, which triggered negative reactions



[ad_1]

A star instructor from trendy cycling training brand SoulCycle backtracks after being criticized for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine on the pretext of being a teacher.

On Friday, Stacey Griffith – a top fitness coach in New York City who, according to a recent report from Vox, earns at least $ 800 per class – shared footage of her trip to Staten Island to get the Moderna shot.

SoulCycle instructor and author Stacey Griffith has apologized for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by claiming her eligibility as a teacher.  (Photo: Ari Perilstein / Getty Images for American Express)
SoulCycle instructor and author Stacey Griffith has apologized for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by claiming her eligibility as a teacher. (Photo: Ari Perilstein / Getty Images for American Express)

“Now I can teach @SoulCycle with a little more faith that everything will be fine if we get the [vaccine]Griffith, whose famous clients have included Kelly Ripa and Madonna, said to her 64,000 followers on Instagram.

The SoulCycle instructor received negative feedback after posting about his vaccination.  (Screen capture: Instagram)
The SoulCycle instructor received negative feedback after posting about his vaccination. (Screen capture: Instagram)

It didn’t take long for many of these followers to scold the 52-year-old author Two rounds of zero to avoid the elderly and at high risk who have not yet been vaccinated.

“Let’s celebrate that we’re making the world safe for in-person spinning lessons in the midst of a global pandemic,” read a comment from a woman who said she and her wife, a patient with cancer, were still a long way from being eligible for their own clichés. “What remains of any respect I had for Soul and the leaders she celebrates is over and gone.”

Griffith initially defended his choice, telling the Daily beast that as a teacher she fell under the eligibility 1B of the New York Department of Health, which includes healthcare workers, residents over 65, grocery store workers, and teachers – the type who oversees the classrooms and daycares, not the practice studios.

“All teachers can request the vaccine,” Griffith told the Daily beast Friday. “My message today was to show my confidence in the system, in our government, and I hope everyone can at least feel more comfortable knowing that I have gone through the process!

She added that she owed her community, “in my health and wellness profession as a teacher,” to get the vaccine to help reduce transmission in her classrooms.

“Getting vaccinated can stop the short spread within groups!” Griffith told the publication. “I work as a commonality for a lot of overlapping people. In my profession as a health and wellness teacher, my daily priority is to keep my community and its respiratory system functioning at full capacity so that they can defeat this virus if they are infected with it. I can only teach them if I am healthy myself.

She made the same point to a reviewer on Instagram who questioned her judgment.

“Ensuring you all is my top priority, ensuring the safety of my old riders is my top priority,” she wrote. “I see hundreds of them every week, I think it’s fair to say it was a good decision.”

But the backlash has persisted, with critics saying the best way to protect the elderly was to not walk past them on the immunization line, which has been plagued by long waiting lists, shortages, confusion over online forms and scheduling hiccups. VoxAlex Abad-Santos from, meanwhile, speculated that few elderly or high-risk runners were likely to be found in Griffith’s SoulCycle classes at this time, given that they are currently being held outside in the cold .

Griffith eventually deleted his post, telling the Daily beast, “I hate controversy. It saddens me that people get so dark and mean, I really try to do the right thing and be safe.

On Monday, Griffith – whose much-publicized romance with fashion designer Michelle Smith from Milly was featured in the New York Times – shared a more contrite message.

“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent action in receiving the vaccine,” she wrote in an Instagram post, for which comments have been disabled. “I made a terrible error in judgment and I am so sorry.”

His apology follows a statement from SoulCycle that instructors should not be vaccinated just because they are “educators.”

“Stacey Griffith operated in a personal capacity requesting a COVID-19 vaccine in New York State,” a SoulCycle spokesperson told Yahoo Life. “SoulCycle has no role in arranging or securing immunizations for instructors or other employees, and we do not encourage any of our SoulCycle employees to prioritize vaccines as educators.”

Griffith has not yet responded to Yahoo Life’s request for comment.

For the latest news and updates on the coronavirus, follow to https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those with compromised immune systems continue to be at greatest risk. If you have any questions, please consult the CDC‘the sand WHO resource guides.

Learn more about Yahoo Life:

Want to get lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? register here for the Yahoo Life newsletter.

Originally published



[ad_2]

Source link