New York Lifts Quarantine Requirements for Vaccinated Visitors & Residents

No fooling - Effective April 1st, New York State has lifted quarantine requirements for Americans who have been fully vaccinated.

The new rule applies only to domestic travel, including to NYC, but not to passengers arriving on international flights, vaccinated or not, American citizens or not, who still must quarantine.

Even so, it’s a boost to the New York City’s struggling tourism industry, and the return of tourists and the money they spend on hotels, restaurants attractions such as museums, supporting thousands of jobs.

It’s another sign of the growing success of the Covid-19 vaccination effort in the USA.

“Domestic travelers are no longer required to quarantine or test out within 90 days of full vaccination,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at a briefing.

Cuomo did not specify whether vaccinated travelers would also be exempt from completing New York’s contact-tracing form upon arrival., which collects contact details from passengers, along with names of their travel companions.

The forms include asking arrivals to list any high-risk areas they’ve visited recently.

NYC on the Cheap Publisher/Executive Editor Evelyn Kanter has taken several ski trips to the Rockies so far in 2021.

In addition to filling out the forms on arrival - both at LaGuardia and at JFK - I received repeat recorded phone calls from the New York Sheriff’s office reminding me to quarantine and the penalties if I did not.

How to get from NYC airports for less money

Gov. Cuomo did not mention it, but here’s a tip:

Make a copy of your Covid-19 vaccination card and carry it with you -

the copy, not the original - for your airline flight, Amtrak or bus trip, and hotel-check-in. Just in case. Just as you carry your driver’s license, medical insurance card and other forms of identification.

The new exemption for quarantine and testing requirements for out-of-state travelers who have been vaccinated is separate from the rules for travelers between New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

Many residents cross state lines to commute to work or go shopping or to their weekend homes. And interstate trucking is vital to keep goods moving from farms and factories to NYC.

Those rules have been in effect since November 2020, and require travelers who have been outside of New York or its contiguous states for over 24 hours to provide negative results from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of travel for entry, then to quarantine for at least three days.

Regional travelers may avoid the 10-day quarantine early if they take another test on Day 4 and it also comes back negative.

During the same briefing, Governor Cuomo also announced additional changes effective March 22:

That New York State, including New York City, is relaxing the limits imposed on private gatherings and raising attendance caps at smaller sports and entertainment venues.