NYC to dispense naloxone, syringes via vending machines

New York City will install public health vending machines in 10 locations across the city to combat the opioid crisis, The Hill reported Jan. 3.

Four things to know:

1. The vending machines will dispense the overdose reversal drug naloxone, sterile syringes and other health supplies.
   
   
2. The initiative is projected to cost taxpayers $730,000.
   
   
3. In 2020, New York City's public health department reported 2,062 deaths resulting from unintentional overdoses, the highest reported overdose total since the department began collecting such data in 2000.
   
   
4. In November, New York became the first U.S. city to open supervised injection sites, another effort to reduce overdose deaths caused by increasingly potent illegal drugs.