Russia's powerful Orthodox Church has admonished people refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19, calling them sinners who would have to atone for the rest of their lives, as the country reported another jump in new infections and deaths.

Speaking on state television, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external church relations, said those refusing to vaccinate were committing “a sin for which they will have to atone throughout their lives”.

He added: “I see situations every day where people visit a priest in order to confess that they had refused to vaccinate themselves or their close ones and unwillingly caused someone's death.

“The sin is thinking of oneself but not of another person.”