By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators approved updated COVID-19 shots Wednesday but limited their use for many Americans — and removed one of the two vaccines available for young children.

The new shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are approved for all seniors. But the Food and Drug Administration narrowed their use for younger adults and children to those with at least one high-risk health condition, such as asthma or obesity. That presents new barriers to access for millions of Americans who’d have to prove their risk — and millions more who may want to get vaccinated and suddenly no longer qualify.

Additionally, Pfizer’s vaccine will no longer be available for any child underage 5, after the FDA said it was revoking the shot’s emergency authorization for that age group.

Parents will still be able to seek out shots from rival drugmaker Moderna, the other maker of mRNA vaccines, which has full FDA approval for children as young as 6 months. But the company’s Spikevax vaccine is only approved for children with at least one serious health problem.

The revamped vaccines target a newer version of the continuously evolving virus and are set to begin shipping immediately. But it could be days or weeks before many Americans know if they’ll be able to get one, with access dependent on various decisions by federal health advisers, private health insurers, pharmacies and state authorities.

The new restrictions — previewed by FDA officials in May — are a break from the previous U.S. policy, which recommended an annual COVID-19 shot for all Americans 6 months and up.

The approach reflects heightened skepticism about the ongoing risks of COVID-19 and the need for yearly booster shots from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who were both outspoken critics of wide-scale vaccinations.

“The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three,” Kennedy wrote on social media.

Kenned said Novavax’s shot is only open to people 12 or older, not younger children – and under the same risk-based restrictions as are now in place for the Moderna and Pfizer options. It’s the nation’s only protein-based COVID-19 vaccine.

Some medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have objected to the new limits, saying they may block vaccine access for families who want to protect their children. Last week, the group offered its own recommendations for kids, saying annual COVID shots are strongly recommended for children ages 6 months to 2 years and advised for older children.

That differs from the latest guidance under Kennedy, which doesn’t recommend the shots for healthy children of any age, but says kids may get the shots in consultation with physicians.

Many countries have scaled back COVID-19 vaccinations in recent years, and some U.S. experts say the change makes sense here, given that nearly all Americans have some protection from previous vaccination or infection.

But implementing the shift presents a number of logistical problems.

Insurers typically base their vaccine coverage decisions on the recommendations of a panel of advisers to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but some say they will also look to medical professional groups, including the American Medical Association.

Earlier this year, Kennedy dissolved the CDC panel and replaced its members with a number of doctors and researchers who have repeatedly questioned the safety of commonly used vaccines and ingredients. The panel is expected to meet in September, but no specific date has been set and no agenda released.

Depending on the panel’s advice, Americans underage 65 could be expected to provide documentation of a serious medical condition before they can get a shot. Complicating the rollout is the fact that pharmacists — who administer most COVID vaccines in the U.S. — typically aren’t expected to collect that kind of information. And laws governing their ability to administer routine vaccinations vary by state, where pharmacists are licensed.

Nearly half states limit vaccinations by pharmacists to those recommended by the CDC panel.

Access could also be complicated for healthy adults and children who are interested in getting a shot for extra protection.

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If the latest vaccines aren’t covered by their insurance, those patients could be required to pay $150 or more out of pocket if they want one. They might also have to find a doctor or other health professional willing to give the shot “off label,” or outside the use listed on the FDA label. Pharmacists may be reluctant to give vaccines off-label.

The updated shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax target a coronavirus subtype named LP. 8.1, a recently dominant version of the virus that is closely related to some newly emerging cousins.

All three shots were initially made available under the FDA’s emergency use authorization, an expedited process to quickly review vaccines and other countermeasures during the pandemic.

Moderna received full FDA approval in July for children down to 6 months and says it should have enough supply to meet U.S. demand.

In addition to revoking emergency use of Pfizer’s vaccine, the FDA also pulled authorization for several other therapies from the pandemic years, including convalescent plasma, which was used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients before the first antiviral drugs became available.

COVID-19 vaccines do a good job preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death, which remain a bigger risk for seniors and people with underlying health factors, including heart disease, lung disease and cancer.

Preliminary data from the CDC estimates 47,500 Americans died from COVID-related causes last year. In at least two-thirds of those cases, COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause of death. For the rest, COVID-19 was a contributing factor.

AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this story.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Two directors are no longer with Ramsey County after officials opened an internal investigation related to their involvement with a recuperative care business in Brooklyn Center.

Former Ramsey County Housing Stability Director Keith Lattimore’s last day with the county was Aug. 12. Former county Deputy Director of Housing Stability Kimberly Cleminson’s last day was Aug. 20, county officials confirmed Wednesday.

A call to an attorney for Care Chexx, the company Lattimore founded which was providing recuperative care services at a hotel in Brooklyn Center, was not immediately returned Wednesday. Cleminson was listed as a partner with Care Chexx.

County officials did not say Wednesday whether Lattimore and Cleminson resigned or were let go. They also did not provide information on the current status of the investigation.

A call to Bryan Huntington, the attorney for Care Chexx and BC Seva LLC, the hotel’s owner, was not returned Tuesday.

In late June the Brooklyn Center city council revoked the hotel Suburban Studio’s license after city staff discovered the medical respite facility serving homeless individuals was operating on its the premises.

Care Chexx which began providing recuperative care services at the hotel in June under a management and operations agreement with the hotel. Cleminson is listed as a partner with Care Chexx on its website.

County officials initiated an internal investigation in July “when we learned of a potential county involvement with the business,” officials said.

The Brooklyn Center city council approved a stay of revocation of the hotel’s license during its July 14 meeting, under the condition that Care Chexx may not operate there.

An open housing stability director position was posted online by county officials on Aug. 20 and lists an annual salary of $119,516.80 to $179,275.20.

Naly Yang is serving as interim director in partnership with Economic Growth and Community Investment Deputy County Manager Kari Collins. Yang previously served as a planning manager and has been with the county for more than 18 years.

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By KATE PAYNE and MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A top Florida official says the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades will likely be empty in a matter of days, even as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the federal government fight a judge’s order to shutter the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by late October. That’s according to an email exchange shared with The Associated Press.

In a message sent to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman on Aug. 22 related to providing chaplaincy services at the facility, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days.” Rojzman, and the executive assistant who sent the original email to Guthrie, both confirmed the veracity of the messages to the AP.

A spokesperson for Guthrie, whose agency has overseen the construction and operation of the site, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FILE – President Donald Trump tours “Alligator Alcatraz,” a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, on July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

News that the last detainee at “Alligator Alcatraz” could leave the facility within days came less than a week after a federal judge in Miami ordered the detention center to wind down operations, with the last detainee needing to be out within 60 days. The state of Florida appealed the decision, and the federal government asked U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to put her order on hold pending the appeal, saying that the Everglades facility’s thousands of beds were badly needed since detention facilities in Florida were overcrowded.

The environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose lawsuit led to the judge’s ruling, opposed the request. They disputed that the Everglades facility was needed, especially as Florida plans to open a second immigration detention facility in north Florida that DeSantis has dubbed “Deportation Depot.” During a tour of the South Florida facility last week, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said he was told that only a fraction of the detention center’s capacity was in use, between 300 to 350 detainees.

Williams had not ruled on the stay request as of Wednesday.

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The judge said in her order that she expected the population of the facility to decline within 60 days by transferring detainees to other facilities, and once that happened, fencing, lighting and generators should be removed. She wrote the state and federal defendants can’t bring anyone other than those who are already being detained at the facility onto the property.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe had argued in their lawsuit that further construction and operations should be stopped until federal and state officials complied with federal environmental laws. Their lawsuit claimed the facility threatened environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars spent over decades on environmental restoration.

The detention center was built rapidly two months ago at a lightly used, single-runway training airport in the middle of the rugged and remote Everglades. State officials have signed more than $245 million in contracts for building and operating the facility, which officially opened July 1.

Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By JOSH FUNK and DIDI TANG

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. production of crucial components in electric vehicles, smartphones and fighter jets is set to expand rapidly in the coming years, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to build up the critical mineral industry in the United States to work to break the chokehold that China has on the global supply chain.

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The federal government is pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into American companies, has made an agreement with one firm to set a minimum price for some U.S.-produced critical minerals, and has launched an investigation into foreign-made supplies.

“This is the Manhattan Project moment for rare earths,” said Joshua Ballard, CEO of USA Rare Earth, which plans next year to start making the rare-earth magnets that appear in many products.

The White House has made it a priority to revive the domestic critical minerals industry, which is proving urgent after Beijing leveraged its near-monopoly on the products to force the U.S. to the negotiating table during a trade war.

President Donald Trump said this week that China “intelligently went and they sort of took a monopoly of the world’s magnets,” but he expressed confidence in securing supplies because the U.S. has “much bigger and better cards.”

“We’re going to have a lot of magnets in a pretty short period of time. In fact, we’ll have so many, we won’t know what to do with them,” he said as he hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Critical minerals have been tied to national security

Industry insiders, analysts and lawmakers have warned for years that America’s dependence on China for critical minerals — a list of 50 minerals that includes 17 sought-after rare-earth elements — is a national vulnerability.

The hard-to-pronounce elements are needed in smartphones, wind turbines and robots as well as missiles, submarines and fighter jets.

“Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production,” an executive order from Trump declared in March.

It was not until Beijing rolled out export restrictions on several rare earths in April — leading to a temporary halt of Ford’s electric vehicle production — that “the problem that for over a decade seemed far away hit close to home,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trump said Monday that he could charge 200% tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing does not export magnets to the U.S. but noted “that’s perhaps behind us.” Instead, he said he could withhold airplane parts to ground China’s American-made Boeing jets.

When asked about the leverage, Guo Jiakun, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said Tuesday that Beijing “follows the principle of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation” in dealing with the U.S.

“We hope the U.S. will work with us to jointly promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of bilateral ties,” Guo said.

The critical minerals industry welcomes support

The Pentagon is investing $400 million in rare-earth producer MP Materials. It gave the U.S. company a $150 million loan this month, has promised to ensure every magnet made at its massive new plant is bought and set a minimum price for its neodymium and praseodymium products for a decade.

“It looks like we’re going to finally do something to address that issue and make these projects a reality,” said Mark Smith, CEO of NioCorp, an American company working to raise $1.2 billion to produce niobium, titanium, scandium and rare earths in Nebraska.

Over four decades, Smith said he’s seen how the U.S. ceded the industry to China, which came to dominate the supply chain by brushing aside environmental concerns, investing in mines worldwide, developing advanced processing technology and setting low prices to squeeze out competition.

Previous efforts by U.S. companies to eke out a viable business proved futile when China flooded the market with low-priced products, chasing away potential investors.

NioCorp recently secured up to $10 million from the Pentagon, which helped pay for exploratory drilling this summer.

While it is unclear if the government would extend a minimum-price deal to other U.S. companies, Smith said the current support is “unbelievable” compared with the past. A price floor, he said, “just takes away the Chinese modus operandi that they’ve had for forever.”

About 220 miles away from where MP Materials is building a magnet plant in Fort Worth, Texas, Noveon Magnetics runs America’s only factory currently making rare-earth magnets. Located south of Austin, it is ramping up production to make 2,000 tons of magnets a year.

“I certainly hope and think it actually is not what may be the last of the efforts by the U.S. government,” Noveon Magnetics CEO Scott Dunn said of the Pentagon-MP Materials partnership.

Even with all the new production aiming to come online in the next few years, American companies are still nowhere near being able to satisfy North America’s demand for roughly 35,000 tons of magnets a year, analysts at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimate. And the demand could double in the next decade.

Ballard, whose USA Rare Earth plans to start making about 600 tons of magnets in Oklahoma next year, said the government can provide incentives to stop American buyers from falling back on cheap Chinese products once they are widely available again.

US government ramps up investments

This year’s big tax and spending cut bill includes $2 billion for the Pentagon to boost the U.S. stockpile of critical minerals and $5 billion more through 2029 to invest in those supply chains.

Between 2020 and 2024, the Pentagon said it had awarded more than $439 million to establish supply chains for domestic rare earths.

Domestic investments aside, Trump has tried to secure access to critical minerals outside of the U.S., including from Greenland and Ukraine. A peace deal the administration helped broker between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda might provide access to critical minerals, but it’s too early to tell if those efforts will succeed.

Some say a deal with Beijing still is needed

Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said he’s concerned that Trump could consider it a success if China agrees to guarantee rare-earth supplies in trade talks.

“I don’t think there will be such a deal or, if there is, that it will last,” Scissors said. “But it is a threat to U.S. economic independence.”

David Abraham, a rare-metals expert who wrote the book “The Elements of Power,” said new U.S. mines are years away.

“Everyone agrees the U.S. still has to work out a deal with the Chinese because American companies need more rare earths and specialized magnets than can be produced domestically,” he said.

Tang reported from Washington.