GFI1 and lymphopenia: Mutations in the GFI1 gene, which is crucial for lymphocyte proliferation and regulation (Guo et al., 2021; Möröy and Khandanpour, 2011; 2019),can lead to lymphopenia and enhanced Th2 inflammatory responses (Sarkar et al., 2021; Zhu et al., 2006), potentially resulting in immune dysregulation and severe COVID-19 progression, highlighting the importance of rs115545251 in this context.