Here is the sequence of events....

1. Find an available cottage on St. John. If you can't, consider St. Thomas. We stayed on St. Thomas last February and were very pleasantly surprised. We really liked Sapphire Beach Resort.
2. Book your flights. Remember that most airlines are allowing changes to flights without a penalty.
3. Schedule COVID test for January 26th first thing in the morning.
4. Get COVID results and apply online for entry. Here is the website: https://usvitravelportal.com/

We did this in November and it was pretty painless.