Online classes will continue at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for the 2021 semester.

However with the elderly, frontline and healthcare workers already receiving doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Dean of UTRGV's School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of Health Affairs Dr. John Krouse said hope for reopening the campus is on the horizon.

"We would like to get back to a more normal campus this summer," Dr. Krouse said. "Certainly we are striving to get to a point that we can get our students to come back to face-to-face classes for the summer semester and then certainly into fall semester."

In order for that to happen. Dr. Krouse says the state and local leaders must first provide the general public with COVID-19 vaccinations.

"We're going to have to be patient," Dr. Krouse said. "...It's just going to take a long time. We have one and a half million people more or less in the Valley that need to be vaccinated. It's not going to happen overnight."

Watch the video for the full story.