The Stacey Griffith vaccine scandal over SoulCycle explained

Stacey Griffith has been a star in SoulCycle for over a decade. For 45 minutes at a time, she teaches her riders how to ride on the rhythm, how to turn a knob that increases the resistance they push, and how to ‘find their passion and purpose’ on bikes that go nowhere. do not go. Her lessons are legendary and sell out time and time again, making her arguably the highest paid SoulCycle instructor in the business, at $ 800 per class.

And on Friday, she says she used the referees to get her first point of the Moderna vaccine.

“Now I can teach SoulCycle with a little more confidence that we will all be fine,” she wrote in an Instagram post now removed. She noticed five people who she said helped ‘fill out online forms’ and ‘submit paperwork’ to obtain the vaccine.

Instagram

Griffith is located in New York City, where the city’s health department is in phase 1b of the vaccination, which eligible health care workers, grocery store staff, residents over 65 and teachers for the vaccine. According to these guidelines, Griffith could not be considered, but she told the Daily Beast that she received the vaccine because she was an ‘educator’ whose priority was to make ‘my community and their respiratory systems work at full capacity. so that they can beat this virus if they become infected by it. ”

With how poorly the vaccination of vaccines was carried out and how difficult it was for people who do Griffith’s explanation raised questions about what Griffith and her team filled out on said forms.

Griffith’s Instagram account was bombarded by angry commentators who asked why and how she could get a dose in front of people who might need it due to underlying, pre-existing health conditions or age.

The scandal became so big that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Griffith’s vaccine was addressed at a news conference over the weekend, saying she would not be able to get it.

“Doesn’t sound like someone who had to be vaccinated for me,” de Blasio said. “I do not think anyone who shows up and says, ‘Hey, I’m a SoulCycle instructor,’ should have qualified unless there’s another factor. “

Although Griffith’s vaccination is undoubtedly valuable to tabloids, it symbolizes the greater frustrations surrounding the deployment of the vaccine in the US. While there are rules about who can get the vaccine, wealth and well-connectedness can help someone jump the line. And since eligible parties do not want to participate and vaccines in some places threaten to go bad, the bigger conversation revolves around one question: Who “deserves” to get the vaccine?

SoulCycle distanced itself from its star instructor’s vaccine

Officially, SoulCycle distanced itself from Griffith’s actions. A spokesperson told me that the company did not play a role in obtaining the vaccine for the famous instructor:

Stacey Griffith applied for a NY State COVID-19 vaccine in a personal capacity. SoulCycle does not play a role in organizing or obtaining vaccinations for instructors or other employees, nor do we encourage any of our SoulCycle employees to have vaccination priority as educators.

In a memo sent to staff members on Monday, SoulCycle’s CEO also wrote that instructors should not try to get the vaccine by claiming to be educators. A former employee sent me a portion of the memo:

… SoulCycle instructors do not qualify as educators to receive the vaccine solely on the basis of their roles at SoulCycle and should not attempt to receive the vaccine unless otherwise eligible, based on applicable government regulations.

Some of Griffith’s fellow instructors are upset that she skipped the line. Some specifically called her in her post and questioned her decision. An insider with knowledge of Griffith’s riders at SoulCycle’s rooftop outside in Tribeca, said a number of her regular riders bragged about the vaccination, while others did not want to adhere to the masking protocols in place, a point of tension for the staff members. around them.

A current instructor informed me that Griffith’s message reflected poorly about the company and that it shows the gap between SoulCycle’s words and his actions. This is consistent with SoulCycle’s image problems of late. After reporting on the business for months, I found staff members complaining about a toxic work environment that includes affluent clients behaving their boers, infighting among instructors and a system that feeds exclusivity while upholding values ​​such as community and togetherness proclaim.

“This is the exact problem with Soul,” a current instructor told me. “We need to practice what we preach. We are fucking angry, especially because you know that bankruptcy is such a risk in this market. ‘

As with many group fitness brands, SoulCycle has seen the pandemic limit its revenue because its studios cannot open. Griffith’s critics argued that this decision by the company’s most famous instructor was a bad thing for a company that was already struggling financially.

While Griffith gets her dose, the country fails to get people’s

But the excessive response to Griffith and SoulCycle also represents a bigger story.

There are probably many people out there who have never had a SoulCycle class before, and Griffith did not know either, but does know what the brand stands for: a luxury for affluent, well-connected people. That Griffith can get the vaccine symbolizes how easy it can be for rich people to get what they want, before everyone else, especially those who qualify according to NYC’s guidelines and have not yet been able to plan an appointment.

That Griffith apparently so easily obtained her first dose of Moderna vaccine amid the sloppy deployment of the state and national chaos indicates how inequality underscores this pandemic. And how rich and well-connected you can be in front of people who are considered a priority by health officials based on age, necessity and vulnerability.

The question of who “earns” the vaccine is complicated, and some experts argue that we should vaccinate as many people as possible without there being as much concern about the order. But if there is no order, it undermines the system. And it remains true that the vaccine is in demand, and flanking Griffith’s report are stories about how difficult it was for people, especially older people and people of color, to plan appointments.

A CNN opinion outlines how difficult it was for the author to get the vaccine to her parents and how the Arizona Department of Health lost their appointment records. Similar stories of trouble and struggle exist in New York and South Carolina. In Jackson Heights, New York, a Covid-19 vaccination site targeting a hardline Latino community, the appointments were devoured primarily by white people from outside the community, CNN reported. There are also reports of vaccinations, and also stories of deficiencies.

Griffith posted an apology on Instagram on Monday.

“I would like to apologize to my heart for my recent actions in receiving the vaccine,” she wrote. “I made a terrible mistake and I’m sorry about that.”

Griffith did not comment on the report. She is still on the company’s schedule.