The University of Connecticut has placed vending machines with the emergency contraceptive Plan B on its campus in an effort to expand access to contraception.

The university is the first institution in the state to install these vending machines, offering Plan B to students at a lower cost. The vending machines were placed on campus at the beginning of the month.

UConn’s School of Pharmacy is also offering a program to train pharmacists in the state to prescribe birth control. The program was launched after approval from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. The program is optional for the state’s licensed pharmacies.

This comes after a law was passed in 2023 to expand contraception access in the state. The law went into effect on Dec. 27, 2024.

A package of PlanB One-Step, an emergency contraceptive pill, is seen in security packaging at a CVS Pharmacy in Washington, on July 7, 2022. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)

“The large chain stores are excited about the opportunity. The independent stores are excited about it,” Connecticut Pharmacists Association CEO Nathan Tinker told the Yale Daily News. “But right now, there is no way for pharmacists to be reimbursed for this service.”

Three bills have been introduced in the state legislature to address questions about pharmacist reimbursement.