US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the coronavirus vaccination programme he inherited from Donald Trump was in “much worse shape” than he had expected, while urging patience and said the government has bought 200 million more doses.

“We’re not going to have everything fixed for a while, but we’re going to fix it,” Biden said in remarks at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

With demand for the vaccine far outstripping supply, Americans are struggling to get appointments for their inoculations, leaving...