NEW DELHI: A local vaccine against Covid-19 may still be some distance away as Indian Council of Medical Research ( ICMR ) maintains it will take at least one –and-a-half to two years for India to develop a vaccine against the new virus even with expedited trials and approvals.At least 74 people have tested positive with coronavirus infection across the country, which includes 17 foreigners. Besides, three more infected cases have been cured, according to the latest health ministry data on Thursday.Researchers in India have secured 11 isolates of coronavirus – which is a prime requisite for doing any kind of research related to viruses. However, there are other potential hazards that researchers will have to overcome before initiating trials.“There are two ways of going for vaccine preparation. One is either you look at the sequences of the gene which then may lead to development of antibodies, or you actually have the strain and then you try to develop a vaccine which is always an easier option,” said Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases-I (ECD-I) division of ICMR.He added that though coronavirus is difficult to isolate but the efforts of scientists of National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune have been successful and about 11 isolates of coronavirus are available.According to Gangakhedkar, vaccine development takes long time. Besides, very less is known about this particular virus and certain viruses behave in unusual manner, indicating the path may not be easier and a breakthrough may take some time.“We have to also understand that even if you provide vaccine to prevent infection, when the infection tends to occur, there could be a flare-up. So, if you actually look at it, we need to factor the part that it could take a long time, and there could be potential hazards; the reality is, the virus is here. First, we must try to prevent it as much as possible, contain it and wait for things to happen,” he added.India has tested around 6,200 samples so far with a focus on contact tracing. Genome sequencing has been done in more than 11 cases which includes cases from Kerala, Lucknow and Jaipur.