On June 29, 2026, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the nonprofit Partnerships for Community Wellness unveiled two public health vending machines on Staten Island's North Shore. Everything in them is free: naloxone kits, emergency contraception, condoms, and socks. The machines were funded from the $12 million allocated to Staten Island out of the city's opioid settlement fund for prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services, according to Healthbeat.
Brooklyn and Queens have had two machines each since 2023. Boston runs four public health vending machines plus eight indoor naloxone kiosks through the Boston Public Health Commission, with the machines purchased by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Boston's machines carry naloxone, safe injection kits, and fentanyl test strips, and partner sites can add pregnancy tests, socks, and PPE.
For the county health departments, tribal health programs, and community organizations that run these programs, the hard part is not the machine. It is keeping it full.
Why machines
A vending machine is a 24-hour, no-questions distribution point. Peer-reviewed evaluations describe them as low-barrier and anonymous, and newer units log a ZIP code or a token so the program can report utilization without identifying anyone. Staten Island's machines ask users to enter a ZIP code for that reason.
The outcome data programs cite is encouraging but early. Healthbeat reported that Staten Island moved from the city's second-highest overdose death rate to the second-lowest in 2024. Boston reported a 33 percent decrease in overdose deaths from January to April 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. Neither city attributes those changes to vending machines alone, and neither should a program's grant report. The machines are one access point in a larger effort.
What goes in the machine
The contents vary by program and by state law, but the common list is short:
| Item | Notes for purchasing |
|---|---|
| Naloxone nasal spray | Two-device cartons; check expiration dating on every lot |
| Fentanyl test strips | Individually wrapped; confirm legal status in your state |
| Xylazine test strips | Increasingly requested alongside fentanyl strips |
| Safer-use and wound care kits | Assembled kits or components; wound care supplies are often overlooked |
| Condoms and emergency contraception | Where the program includes sexual health |
| Hygiene items and socks | High-turnover items that draw people to the machine |
| Rapid HIV and HCV self-tests | Where programs include testing |
The purchasing lesson from every program that has run one: the machine empties in the order people need things, not in the order the grant listed them. Naloxone and socks go first.
Keeping it stocked
1. Set a par per machine, not per program. Track pulls by item and by machine. A machine outside a shelter and one near a transit hub will not empty at the same rate.
2. Buy by the case with lot dating. Naloxone and test strips have expiration dates. Ask your supplier to state the dating on the quote and to rotate the oldest lot forward.
3. Use a standing order. A monthly standing order with a confirmed delivery date turns restocking into a route, not a scramble. Adjust quantities quarterly from the pull data.
4. Keep a small reserve at the program office. A machine that sits empty for a week loses the trust the program spent months building.
5. Document funding rules. Opioid settlement funds, CDC Overdose Data to Action grants, and state contracts each have their own allowable-cost lists. Keep the invoice detail clean so the item, quantity, and lot are on every line.
What Keystone supplies
Keystone quotes naloxone, fentanyl and xylazine test strips, drug screening products, wound care, hygiene items, and sexual health supplies for public health programs, by the case, with lot dating stated on the quote. We ship from Edina, Minnesota or direct from the manufacturer, and we set up standing orders by machine or by site for programs that want a route instead of a purchase order every month. Government and nonprofit buyers can use our government purchasing page for cooperative contract and terms information.
Browse harm reduction and public health supplies or request a program quote.
Sources
- Healthbeat, "Vending machines with free naloxone kits come to Staten Island to curb drug overdoses" (June 30, 2026): https://www.healthbeat.org/newyork/2026/06/30/public-health-vending-machines-staten-island/
- City of Boston, "Public Health Vending Machines and Naloxone Access Points Announced Across Boston": https://www.boston.gov/news/public-health-vending-machines-and-naloxone-access-points-announced-across-boston
- PMC, "Smart harm reduction vending machines to improve public health: evaluating the utilization": https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13154227/
- Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services, Harm Reduction Vending Machines: https://county.milwaukee.gov/EN/DHHS/BHD/Harm-Reduction-Vending-Machines
