Upon cross-comparison of our ‘post-vaccine fatal COVID-19’ transcriptomic signature with previously described IEI (inborn errors in type I IFN immunity) genes linked to life-threatening COVID-19 (ref. 28), we identified a clear dichotomy between upregulated (IRF7) versus downregulated (IRF3) IEI genes in fatal cases (Fig. 4a). This evidence concerns the gene IRF3 and COVID-19.