Ljubljana (Slovenia), Sep 17 (AP) Slovenia's government said on Friday that it would immediately start with compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for all government employees, stepping up anti-virus measures that had already sparked a major riot in the small Alpine state.

All government workers will need to receive one shot by October 1 and a second a month later, unless they get the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

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PCR tests will no longer be accepted to gain entry into government-funded workplaces, including state-run hospitals.

Earlier this week, the government introduced the compulsory display of COVID-19 passes proving vaccination or a negative PCR result in order to access private places of work as well as hospitals, gas stations, shopping malls, restaurants and other public places.

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That measure spawned major street riots in the capital, Ljubljana, on Wednesday.

Slovenian health officials said the COVID-19 pass measure has raised public interest in vaccination amid a significant upsurge in new infections.

Nearly half of the European Union member country's 2 million population has so far been fully vaccinated, well below the bloc average. (AP)

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