Recently, it has been speculated that the hypoxemia and associated pulmonary pathology observed in COVID-19 patients may arise from a reduced oxygen-sensing capacity in pulmonary arteries and in carotid bodies (Archer et al., 2020). The resulting dysfunctional regulation of ventilation may be particularly deleterious in combination with pre-existing deficits of the ventilatory response, as is the case in prematurely born individuals.