By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal panel of experts on Wednesday recommended an expansion of RSV vaccinations for adults and a new combination shot as another option to protect teens against meningitis.

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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also voted to recommend a shot to protect travelers from a mosquito-borne illness called chikungunya.

But it’s not clear who will decide whether to accept those recommendations.

The 15-member expert panel makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how regulator-cleared vaccines should be used. CDC directors almost always approve the recommendations.

The Trump administration named Susan Monarez as acting CDC director in January, and last month picked her to lead the agency. But while she’s awaiting Senate confirmation, she has essentially recused herself from regular duties because of federal law around vacancies, according to two CDC officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss agency matters and feared being fired.

That means any committee recommendations made Wednesday may move to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading voice in the U.S. anti-vaccine movement.

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson has told The Associated Press he was looking into how the agency would decide on the panel’s recommendations.

Those recommendations on Wednesday were:

— People 50 to 59 should be able to get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus have risks including heart disease, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

— Endorsement of a new combination shot made by GSK that protects against five strains of meningococcal bacteria, including a strain that caused a spate of outbreaks on college campuses about 10 years ago. It would join other products that also target the germs.

— Adding a second chikungunya vaccine to the options for Americans age 12 and older who are traveling to countries where outbreaks are occurring. About 100 to 200 cases are reported annually among U.S. travelers.

— Adding a new precaution for the older chikungunya vaccine that uses weakened but live virus: People 65 and older should weigh the risks of benefits of that version of the shot, the panel said. The precaution was added after panel members heard about an investigation into six reports of people 65 and older — most of them with other medical problems — who became ill with heart or brain symptoms less than a week after vaccination. The investigation is continuing.

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.

For the first seven innings of Wednesday’s game, there was a lot to like for the Twins.

Left fielder Harrison Bader had punished his former teammates with his arm and his bat. Aggressiveness on the basepaths had paid off. David Festa did, for the most part, what he needed to do and Danny Coulombe and Edouard Julien helped the Twins out of a daunting situation.

But since this is the 2025 Twins, nothing has come easy.

And on Wednesday, that meant seeing their three-run lead disappear in the eighth inning with one of their best arms — Griffin Jax — on the mound.

Even still, the Twins prevailed in the series finale, winning 4-3 in 10 innings against the Mets at Target Field. Ty France, last week’s American League Player of the Week, played hero, singling home automatic runner Byron Buxton to make the Twins walk-off winners.

His big moment came after Cole Sands had gotten the Twins out of a tough situation with two runners on and no outs in the top of the inning.

It took contributions from everyone to get the Twins there.

Bader, whose day started by cutting down a runner at home trying to score in the second inning, dove to catch a sinking line drive in the eighth inning, likely saving another run from scoring. After collecting three hits in Tuesday’s win, he added another two in Thursday’s win and scored the team’s second run, driven in by Buxton.

Willi Castro scored on Bader’s first RBI knock in the fifth inning after some aggressive baserunning landed him on second to start the inning. The Mets challenged the play, which was unsuccessful.

That failed challenge came up big later, when Castro was ruled safe on an infield single in the sixth inning. Upon review, he would have been out, but the Mets had already lost their challenge.

While the play was unfolding at first base — first baseman Pete Alonso threw the ball to reliever José Buttó, who then briefly tried to plead his case before turning around and throwing home — Ryan Jeffers just kept running, getting in safely while attention was directed away from him.

That play became especially important because later in the game when Jax gave up the lead, allowing four hits in the three-run inning.

The Twins had been clinging to that lead since the fifth inning, one which they grabbed after a big double play extracted them from Festa’s jam unscathed.

Coulombe, called upon to face lefty superstar Juan Soto with the bases loaded, needed just one pitch. Soto grounded it to Julien at second, who tagged Francisco Lindor, who was just off of first base, and then beat Soto to the bag, keeping the tie intact at the time.

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An island-wide blackout hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as the largely Catholic residents of the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate the Easter weekend, a power company spokesman said.

All 1.4 million clients on the island were without power, Hugo Sorrentini, spokesman for Luma Energy, which oversees the transmission and distribution of power, told The Associated Press. “The entire island is without generation,” he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the shutdown, the latest in a string of major blackouts on the island in recent years. Gov. Jenniffer González, who was traveling, said officials were “working diligently” to address the outage.

Dozens of people were forced to walk next to the rails of the rapid transit system that serves the capital, San Juan, while scores of businesses including the biggest mall in the Caribbean were forced to close. Professional baseball and basketball games were cancelled as the hum of generators and smell of smoke filled the air.

The last island-wide blackout occurred on New Year’s Eve. Puerto Rico has struggled with chronic outages since September 2017 when Hurricane Maria pummeled the island as a powerful Category 4 storm, razing a power grid that crews are still struggling to rebuild.

The grid already had been deteriorating as a result of decades of a lack of maintenance and investment.

By MICHAEL CASEY and RODRIQUE NGOWI

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts family is demanding answers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, complaining its agents smashed a car window with a hammer and detained a man who they claim had applied for asylum.

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A lawyer for the family also claims agents were not looking for Juan Francisco Mendez when they grabbed him Monday in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as he drove to a dentist appointment. The lawyer, Ondine Galvez-Sniffin, told The Associated Press during an interview that the agents claimed they were looking for another man with a different name before they dragged him and his wife out of the car.

The incident, recorded on video by Mendez’s wife Marilu Domingo Ortiz, shows ICE agents using a hammer to smash the car window and then grab Ortiz. The family believes Mendez is being held at a facility in Dover, New Hampshire.

“When I arrived on the scene, my client’s wife was sobbing. She was crying. She was shaking,” Galvez-Sniffin said, adding that Mendez yelled “Help Me” in Spanish as he was driven away in handcuffs.

“I walked over to the car and I see the busted window, the glass all over the back seat, and I was shocked,” the lawyer added. “I’ve been doing immigration work for 27 years and this was the first time that I saw such violent drastic measures being taken.”

A spokesman for ICE did not return repeated messages seeking comment.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, in a post on X, said the incident “raises questions that require clear answers,” including why local police weren’t alerted beforehand. He also questioned whether ICE agents are targeting criminals as the Trump administration promised or are “engaging in an indiscriminate round-up of individuals with uncertain immigration status.”

Ortiz and her 9-year-old son have already been given protection under an asylum status over fears of facing persecution if they returned home to Guatemala.

Galvez-Sniffin said Mendez had been in the country for four years and worked in the seafood industry in New Bedford. He had no criminal record, she said, and was in the process of applying for asylum. He had been fingerprinted in December, she said, adding nothing turned up in terms of a criminal record.

“There really was no reason to treat him the way that he and his wife were treated.” Galvez-Sniffin said, adding that agents refused to look at the paperwork showing he had applied for asylum.

“My biggest concern, his family’s biggest concern is getting him back,” she said. “He has no criminal background and everything to stay for in this country.”

The incident comes as the governor and law enforcement officials in New England have raised concerns about the tactics ICE is using to detain people.

Last month, ICE agent Brian Sullivan took Wilson Martell-Lebron, 49, into custody as he was leaving court. Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville found Sullivan in contempt, arguing that he deprived Martell-Lebron of his rights to due process and fair trial.

That case has since been dropped but the detention outside court while Martell-Lebron was on trial prompted Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden to call the actions of ICE “troubling and extraordinarily reckless.”

Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk of Turkey, 30, also is challenging her detention by ICE. A video account shows her walking on a street in a Boston suburb as she is surrounded by immigration officials. Ozturk is heard screaming as they take her cellphone and is seen getting handcuffed. Her lawyers have called for her immediate release.