What is the link between the percentage of Neanderthal genes a human has and resistance to COVID?

Neanderthal gene offers protection
The latest study from the same team of scientists found another Neanderthal gene with the opposite effect. Their findings appear in the journal PNAS.

Using data from the Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care consortium, the team found a genome type on the OAS1 region of chromosome 12 that appears to protect against severe COVID-19.

The researchers say the presence of each copy of OAS1 reduces the need for intensive care by around 22%.

Genes located in this region encode proteins that activate enzymes critical in the body's immune response to RNA viruses. These enzymes help break down viral genomes.

The study also indicates that this Neanderthal-inherited gene's prevalence has increased since the last Ice Age. Scientists believe it is present in approximately half of all people outside Africa.