UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh have their eyes on a COVID-19 advancement — a vaccine.

In a news release Wednesday, the partners invited hundreds of Western Pennsylvanians to participate in one of two clinical research trials looking for a vaccine for the virus.

The trials are part of the COVID-19 Prevention Network and Operation Warp Speed, the national initiative to accelerate development of a safe and effective vaccine to protect recipients from SARS-CoV-2.

“Participating in Operation Warp Speed is a huge honor. This is a chance for Pittsburgh to have an impact that's not just local or national — it's going to be worldwide,” said Dr. Judy Martin, director of the Pittsburgh Vaccine Clinical Trials Unit at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. “One of these vaccines will likely be successful — and, hopefully, more than one.”

In total, the Pittsburgh site seeks to recruit 750 participants over age 18 who are not severely immunocompromised.

Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the study vaccine or a placebo (saline) injection. Neither the participant, their clinician, nor the researchers will know whether the participant received the study vaccine or placebo.

They will receive an initial immunization, which may be followed by a booster four weeks later. Participants will then be followed for one to two years with periodic blood tests to see if their immune systems are producing antibodies specific to the virus.

This work is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Richard King Mellon Foundation, which last month awarded a $250,000 grant to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation to help fund the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.