New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) COVID-like pandemics can pose a threat to the country's internal security and policy makers should address this challenge, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Friday.

Addressing the all-party meeting convened by the government to discuss the COVID-19 situation, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also said that the country should be well-placed to get vaccines at affordable prices and at an early stage.

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"COVID-like pandemics can be one of the greatest threats to the internal security of any country. In the future, policy makers at the national level should include COVID-like pandemics as a threat to internal security, besides external threats and internal insurgencies, if any," Azad said in the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress leader called for putting in place a vaccine safety monitoring mechanism to assess long-term adverse effects after immunisation.

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The former Union minister said that scientists, policy makers and political leaders must work together on COVID-19 vaccine prioritisation and distribution.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)