JANESVILLE, Wis. — A group of teachers will be some of the first in Wisconsin to get the COVID-19 vaccine, although state officials don’t approve of their plans.

The Janesville School District announced students would have the day off on January 22, while all their teachers got vaccinated.

However, the state Department of Health Services said they’re jumping the gun.

Teachers are part of phase 1B of the vaccination plan, but they’re lower in that phase, after EMS and first responders, and some other groups. Plus, Wisconsin isn’t finished with phase 1A yet.

DHS officials stepped in to say it’s not teachers’ turn yet. They reached out to Mercyhealth, who was providing the vaccines.

“I think it’s important to remember this vaccine is an asset of the federal government, that is given to states, and by states to local providers,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, DHS Deputy Secretary. “We’ve asked people to follow the same rules together, in fact they’ve signed a contract to do that.”

We asked Mercyhealth about the issue. They had cited Willems Van Dijk’s own words, saying DHS wanted a seamless transition between phases. They also said after talking to DHS officials, they were working on finishing vaccinating people in phase 1A, and finalizing who would be eligible in phase 1B.

But that mass vaccination will happen on Friday. Governor Tony Evers said once they opened that can of worms, there was no turning back.

“They’ve made that announcement in their community, and I think it’s going to be hard to undo that, frankly,” Evers said. “People have taken off work, gotten childcare, to be vaccinated. While we would’ve preferred a different outcome, the fact of the matter is they made these plans, announced it publicly, and they’ll likely go forward with it.”

Because of this kerfuffle, those 1,300 in Janesville will be among the first teachers in Wisconsin to get the covid-19 vaccine.

Technically, Phase 1B eligibility isn’t even finalized yet. You can still weigh in and give your opinion on who you think should be included by 4 p.m. Monday, January 18.