CALGARY, Alberta- The Canadian province of Alberta has stopped administering first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine because of limited supply, a provincial government spokesman said on Tuesday.

"This decision is based on the fact that we are receiving no known future shipments of AstraZeneca at this time but are receiving large quantities of mRNA vaccines," Alberta Health spokesman Tom McMillan said in an email.

(Reporting by Nia Williams) ((nia.williams@thomsonreuters.com; +1 403 531 1624; Reuters Messaging: nia.williams.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))