In the acute phase of infection, studies have shown evidence of an exhausted as well as an aged immune phenotype in COVID-19 patients, such as CD8 T cells and NK cells with reduced IL-2 and IFN-γ expression, reduced granzyme expression and degranulation (CD107a) and an increased expression of the inhibitory receptor NKG2A [40, 41]. Here, CD8A is linked to infection.