Additional SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 T cell responses were identified for 5 of the 8 HLA-A*01:01+ COVID-19 patients, and the highest magnitude of these responses was on average 70-fold (range: 1.2–216) lower compared to the TTD-specific CD8 T cell response (Fig. 2b, c, P = 0.0136, two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test). Here, CD8A is linked to COVID-19.