Genetics for sure play a (the?) major role in much of our medical life. However, severity of disease impact isn’t necessarily linked to susceptibility to infection. Just because one factor was influenced by genetics doesn’t mean another factor is as well.
Maybe we're using the term "genetics" slightly differently. What I mean is that our genes determine how our body works, and slight variations in those genes lead to slight variations in how our body functions. Those variations may be meaningless for most of our lives, but in certain circumstances they may affect the severity of disease or susceptibility to infection. In this sense, EVERYTHING in our body is influenced by genetics. (I'm not suggesting that there's a link between the genes that affect severity and those that affect susceptibility.)
Have there been any studies that showed that “x” demographic are less likely to contract COVID than “y” demographic in the same environment? All I’ve seen are that people contract the virus at very different levels in different *environments*- indicating that the major differentiating factor in some people catching the virus and not others is their behavior and likelihood of exposure to an infected patient.
I have yet to see anything that indicates that certain *people* are less likely to contract COVID. If you’ve seen something, please do point to it.
You seem to be using "genetics" to refer to "demographic" or "certain people", which is not what I was referring to. I'm thinking more at the molecular level. For example, nasal mucus has a pH of 5-8. Perhaps in some people, a gene that's involved in controlling that pH keeps it closer to the lower number, that is, more acidic, and therefore the mucus is more likely to destroy the virus before it causes infection. And they wouldn't necessarily be immune to Covid, it might just take a larger dose of the virus to get them sick. These people wouldn't look different from others. The only demographic they could be said to belong to is "low pH mucus group", aka Sour Snots.
A combination of genetic differences, environment, behavior contribute to differences in how quickly people got infected, and I would agree with you that genetic differences are the minor component.
I’m up to my ears in stories of people who consistently claimed they “don’t get sick” and “their spouse already had it so how could they catch it now” only to subsequently catch it.
This is a totally different issue. I was thinking theoretically, is it possible that we will one day find some gene variant that underlies why some people were less likely to get covid, and I think the answer is yes.
But you're talking now about real life. No, I definitely don't think that someone who happens to have not caught covid yet is in some way genetically immune! No. Not at all.
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