Country : Egypt

Committee : World Health Organization (WHO)

Delegate : Nadira Mutiara Fasya
Topic : The World’s Needs of COVID-19
Vaccine

Honorable Chairs,

Coronavirus was firstly announced in Egypt by Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman, Khaled Mugahed,
on Friday, 14 February 2020. One person who tested positive was a foreigner who did not show serious
symptoms. This case also makes Egypt the first African country to report positive cases of corona and the
second region in the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates.

Since the announcement of the first case of the SARS-CoV-2 case in Egypt, the government started
multidisciplinary national coordination between different ministries. In February, they decided that there
is no need to stop close airport travels, schools, or universities at this stage. Instead, Egypt started to
examine all tourists coming to Egypt and to trace them for the development of fever or respiratory
symptoms after arrival. Egypt discovered cases of COVID-19 in a cruise ship in Luxor, and subsequently,
the authorities prevented the onboard passengers and the crew from leaving the ship and sent a medical
team to take care of them.

On March 8, Egypt announced that a 60-year-old German tourist died in the touristic town Hurghada,
Egypt, and this was the first German fatality from the virus. The escalation in the number of cases by the
middle of March to be >100 cases prompted the government to take more strict arrangements. Egypt
suspended schools and universities for one month and encouraged electronic distance learning. Also,
Egypt imposed a curfew from 7 pm until 6 am, during which all shops and markets are closed from 5 pm
to 6 pm and are subjected to a complete shutdown on Fridays and Saturdays. Besides, all means of public
and private transportation are suspended during curfew hours. Flight into or out of Egypt were also
suspended in an attempt to reduce the risk of importing infection. All sports and many social activities
were also banned to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Egyptian government's response to the covid-19 outbreak has become a case study in repression,
propaganda, and misinformation. The Egyptian government has also taken several other policies to
suppress the spread of coronavirus, such as:

1. Travel Restrictions
The minister of aviation closed the airports and suspend all air travel.

2. Testing
As of March 25th, the ministry of health announced that 25,000 PCR tests have been done.

3. Censorship
Foreign media outlets have reported that certain individuals have been arrested for allegedly spreading
false information about the coronavirus pandemic.
As a lower-middle-income country, experiencing economic constraints in the production or import of the
coronavirus vaccine. Following the resolution of united nation adopted by the general assembly, Requests
the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the World Health Organization and other relevant
agencies of the United Nations system, including the international financial institutions, to identify and
recommend options, including approaches to rapidly scaling manufacturing and strengthening supply
chains that promote and ensure fair, transparent, equitable, efficient and timely access to and distribution
of preventive tools, laboratory testing, reagents, and supporting materials, essential medical supplies, new
diagnostics, drugs, and future COVID-19 vaccines, to make them available to all those in need, in
particular in developing countries.

The IMF Provides Rp 73.8 Trillion of Standby Loan to Egypt. This IMF standby loan can be used by
Egypt to overcome the challenges caused by the corona pandemic, especially regarding the need for
payment terms. The International Monetary Fund agreed to provide a standby loan or a stand-by loan that
can be withdrawn in 12 months amounting to the US $ 5.2 billion or around Rp.73.8 trillion to Egypt.
These funds can be used to overcome the challenges caused by the Corona Pandemic, especially
regarding the need for a balance of payments and a budget deficit.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed confirmed that Egypt had obtained legislative approval to produce
the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac at home. Zayed stated that the country was negotiating with
the Chinese company to produce the vaccine in Egypt. The contract for local production will be signed
within days of the agreement on the proposal. Egypt has a contract with the Global Alliance for Vaccines
and Immunization (GAVI) for more vaccines. The vaccine will prioritize medical staff, followed by those
with chronic diseases.

Under the agreement with GAVI, Egypt will get 20 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, most likely
from AstraZeneca. On Thursday, Egypt received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines produced by
Chinese company Sinopharma. The vaccine arrived at Cairo International Airport via the United Arab
Emirates. The vaccine will be provided free of charge under the direction of Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah El-Sisi.