Following the new Centers for Disease Control guidelines, Massachusetts has recently exempted from the Travel Order those people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The guidelines stipulate that the traveler must have had the final vaccine at least 2 weeks prior to entry into the state and must have documentation of their vaccination status available or face a $500 per day fine. As of Monday, Nantucket has administered 2,591 first doses and 1,339 islanders are now fully vaccinated.
Travelers who are not fully vaccinated are required to either quarantine for two weeks or obtain a negative coronavirus test prior to or upon arriving in Massachusetts. Nantucket had only 63 cases of COVID-19 from March 2020 until early September. Since then there have been 1,163 cases. A total of over 26,000 negative tests have been done by the hard-working people at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. It was on March 16, 2020 that the governor issued the first stay at home order. One year later Massachusetts was designated a low risk state. We continue to be grateful for our strong leadership, locally and at the state level.