Armenia's parliament has approved a law that will allow employers to fire workers who refuse to provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test result, reports AP.

The new rule follows an August order by the ministry of health which required Armenian citizens to provide their employers with proof of vaccination or a negative polymerase chain reaction test every two weeks or face a fine.

If the employee is not providing a vaccination certificate, or a negative Covid-19 test, the employer is given the right to turn the employee away from the workplace, suspend their pay and fire the employee, if they are off for 10 working days because of that, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ruben Sargsyan said on Friday.

The new vaccination requirement will not apply to the country's president, prime minister, members of parliament or the National Assembly, the ombudsman, judges of the Constitutional Court and a number of other officials, Sargsyan said.