A SoulCycle instructor has apologized for getting the COVID-19 vaccine after applying as an 'educator'

• The SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith has apologized for getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Griffith received backlash for getting vaccinated after deeming herself an "educator."
• A SoulCycle spokesperson told Insider they do not "encourage any of our employees to seek vaccine priority as educators."

The celebrity-loved SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith has apologized for getting a COVID-19 vaccine on the basis of classing herself as an "educator."

In now-deleted Instagram posts seen by Insider's Allana Akhtar, Griffith documented her vaccination, telling her 64,300 followers that she drove an hour to Staten Island for it on Friday.

As Akhtar reported, fitness instructors are not yet eligible for the vaccine in New York, and Griffith received a backlash when many others in eligible groups are struggling to get vaccinated.

In January, New York authorities warned that it had a "very limited" COVID-19 vaccine supply, as Insider's Natasha Dailey reported.

A spokesperson for SoulCycle told Insider: "Stacey Griffith operated in a personal capacity in applying for a NY State COVID-19 vaccine. 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."

Griffith has now apologized, writing on Instagram: "I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent action in receiving the vaccine. I made a terrible error in judgment and for that I am truly sorry."

A post shared by Stacey Griffith (@staceygnyc)

Griffith, who reportedly makes a minimum of $800 a class and has celebrity fans including Kelly Ripa and Neil Patrick Harris, told The Daily Beast on Friday that her being vaccinated "can stop the short spread within groups."

She continued: "I function as a common point for many overlapping people. In my profession of health and wellness as a teacher, it's my priority daily to keep my community and their respiratory systems operating at full capacity so they can beat this virus if they are infected by it. I can only teach to them if I am healthy myself."

Griffith added that "all teachers are eligible to apply for the vaccine" and that she had applied online.

A post shared by Stacey Griffith (@staceygnyc)

However, a memo reportedly sent by SoulCycle's CEO and seen by Vox said: "SoulCycle instructors do not qualify as educators to receive the vaccine based solely on their roles at SoulCycle and should not be attempting to receive the vaccine unless they are otherwise eligible to do so, based on appropriate state regulations."

Mayor Bill De Blasio of New York City said in a press conference on Sunday that he did not think Griffith should have gotten the vaccine. "That should have been caught in the application process," he said.

Griffith did not immediately respond to Insider's request for additional comment.