Starr County is expected to receive a low-temperature refrigerator with the capability to store the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine which the county has, so far, been unable to obtain.

After more than two months, Starr County Memorial Hospital is expected to finally receive a refrigerator necessary to properly store the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine either this week or next, according to Administrator Thalia Muñoz.

The hospital’s board of directors approved its purchase during a meeting on Thursday at a cost of about $8,000, according to Muñoz.

The hospital had ordered the refrigerator nearly three months ago, Muñoz said, but they were delayed in actually obtaining it because of the high demand for those refrigeration units upon the development of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

So far, Starr County providers have only received doses of the Moderna vaccine and even those, officials say, are not enough.

Through the seventh week of vaccine distribution by the Texas Department of State Health Services, providers in Starr County were allocated a total of 2,300 doses of COVID-19 vaccinations.

County officials have been attempting to obtain more doses in hopes of holding mass vaccination events such as those held in Hidalgo County. As of Tuesday, though, Starr County Judge Eloy Vera said they have not received a response from the state.

“We’re still waiting,” Vera said. “Everything’s still status quo.”

During a news conference held Jan. 15, Region 11 Medical Director Dr. Emilie Prot, said she’s been in talks with Vera and Dr. Antonio Falcon, the county’s health authority.

“I think they we’re doing everything that we can advocate for Starr County,” Prot said.

However, Prot encouraged people who are eligible to receive the vaccine to travel to the bigger cities where more doses are available.

“A lot of people, they go shopping in the big cities, they go to the mall in big cities,” Prot said, “So if people can go to big cities for those other things, we should also encourage them to go get vaccinated in some of the big cities.”

“Right now, we’re lucky to have multiple hubs in our area,” Prot added. “I know every single judge wants to have an event in their own county and we are working with them for plans; right now, there’s just not enough vaccines.”

While the arrival of the low-temperature refrigerator at the Starr County hospital is a welcome development, it is unclear whether that will actually lead the state to allocate more doses to that facility.

Asked whether doses of the Pfizer vaccine could be expected, Muñoz replied that they will take whatever the state gives them but Dr. Jose Vazquez, the hospital board president, was not optimistic.

Vazquez said Tuesday that he didn’t want the hospital’s lack of a fridge to serve as an excuse for the state to not distribute any to them but said he expected they would continue to only receive the Moderna vaccine.

“I don’t think that we’re going to be getting the vaccine just because we have the refrigerator,” he said.