Hyderabad,  The second consignment of the Sputnik V vaccine landed in Hyderabad on Sunday. A special cargo flight carrying 60,000 doses landed at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

Hyderabad Customs facilitated expeditious clearance of the imported vaccines.

This came two days after first dose of Sputnik was administered in India. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the marketing partner for the Russian vaccine, announced that it commenced the soft launch on Friday as part of a limited pilot.

It was also announced that Sputnik V will be sold at a maximum retail price of Rs 995 per dose.

The Hyderabad-based pharma major said that the soft launch is aimed at testing of cold-chain logistics with 2-dose regime. The vaccine will be available for customers in India by mid-June after stock ramp-up, Dr Reddy's said.

The launch followed clearance for the imported doses from the Central Drugs Laboratory in Kasauli last week.

Sputnik V, that was last month accorded emergency use authorization by the Drugs Controller General of India, joined Covaxin and Covishield in the Covid-19 immunisation programme in India.

The first consignment of 150,000 doses had arrived in Hyderabad on May 1.

With an efficacy of 91.6 per cent, Sputnik V was the first vaccine against Covid-19 in the world. Clinical trial data published in The Lancet indicated that the vaccine appears safe and effective.