In Giving We Shall Receive

People with blood type O have reduced risk of contracting the coronavirus. Even if they do get infected, the symptoms are less severe: [bold added]

O-positive: the largest plurality

23andMe on Monday published a potentially significant finding that people with the blood type O were on average 14% less likely than other blood types (A, B, AB) to get Covid and 19% less likely to be hospitalized after accounting for age, sex, comorbidities, ethnicity and body mass.

Among exposed individuals, O blood types were 19% less likely to test positive. There appeared to be little difference in susceptibility among other blood types.

Your humble blogger is O+, which means that he can donate to all positive blood types, i.e., over 90% of the population. (O- is the true universal donor.) However, "O's" can only receive blood from other "O's".

In return for this giving-receiving asymmetry, nature has granted "O's" greater resistance to COVID-19. Life does not come with guarantees, but it doesn't hurt to have statistics--and luck--on your side.