Funding: the study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant № 21-14-00363 (bioinformatics analysis, cartographic analysis) and performed within the State Assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the Research Centre for Medical Genetics (statistical analysis, data interpretation, manuscript writing).

Acknowledgements: the authors express their gratitude to all members of the expedition survey of the North Eurasian indigenous population (sample donors) and the autonomous non-profit organization “Biobank of North Eurasia” for access to DNA collections, and Olkova MV, for her participation in gathering information on the gene variants associated with the COVID-19 severity.

Author contribution: Balanovska EV — data analysis, manuscript writing, research management; Gorin IO, Petrushenko VS — bioinformatics analysis; Agdzhoyan AT, Chernevsky DK, Pylev VYu — statistical analysis; Temirbulatov II — explanation of pharmacogenetic approaches; Koshel SM — cartographic analysis.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Commitee of the Research Centre for Medical Genetics (protocol № 1 of 29 June 2020); all subjects submitted the informed consent to study participation.