Option traders post large profits yesterday on bullish positions opened in $Pfizer Inc(PFE.US)$ on positive vaccine news. 

On Dec. 8th, we identified the purchase of 1468 weekly $41 calls expiring this Friday for 1.41 with shares at $41.83. This was clearly a new position, as volume was +5892 clearly above the strike's previous open interest.

PFE closed higher on the session by 3.18% at $42.56. The drug maker announced Tuesday that the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for priority review a Biologics License Application for its 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate, as submitted for the prevention of invasive disease and pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniaeserotypes in the vaccine in adults ages 18 years and older. 

Here are key findings of the FDA's analysis of the COVID vaccine developed by $Pfizer Inc(PFE.US)$ and German partner $BioNTech SE(BNTX.US)$, as well as findings from the manufactures. Both reports were released Tuesday. 

The vaccine is effective

• The vaccine is 95% effective at protecting against symptomatic Covid-19.

• After the first dose, the vaccine showed to be more than 52% effective, protection that rose to 95% a week after the second dose was administered.

• Effectiveness varies little by age, ethnicity, race

• White people: 95% effective

• Black people: 100% effective

• All others, including American Indian, Asians and Pacific Islanders: 89% effective

• People over 55 years old: 94% effective

• People with underlying conditions: 95% effective

• Side effects are common but mostly minor

• Eighty-four percent of trial subjects reported reactions at the injection site. After getting the vaccine, 63% of trial subjects reported fatigue, 55% headaches, 32% chills, 24% joint pain and 14% fever.

• Bell's palsy, which is temporary muscle paralysis in the face, was found in four patients who received the vaccine, and none on the placebo. Three of the cases had not been resolved by Pfizer's regulatory submission in November. Sixty-four subjects who received the vaccine      reported lymphadenopathy, a disease of the lymph nodes, compared with six on the placebo.

Next steps:

• Pfizer plans to monitor patients for two years to learn more about duration, since it isn't clear how long protection might last.

• The FDA report goes to an outside advisory panel Thursday, which will recommend on whether the vaccine can be distributed on an emergency basis.

• FDA authorization of the vaccine could come within days after Thursday's meeting.

Notable bettings toward broader market indices ETF on 12/8

Market-wide option volume of 31.1m contracts was 10% below recent average levels, with calls leading puts 13 to 6. Single stock and Index products saw relatively heavy volume, while ETF flow was moderate.

Individuals breakdown by sectors (12/8 notable bets)

Most active sectors included Telecommunications, Health Care and Oil & Gas while Industrials and Financials were relatively light. Of the 3,653 stocks with listed options, 2,255 (62%) closed higher, and 1,224 (34%) lower. Among the 500 most liquid single stocks, 30day implied volatility was lower for 275 and higher for 186. Unusual total option volume was observed in $Pfizer Inc(PFE.US)$, $Ford Motor Co(F.US)$, $Plug Power Inc(PLUG.US)$, $AT&T Inc(T.US)$ and $FASTLY INC(FSLY.US)$.

Tech

Industrial

Consumer Cyclical

Financial

Communication Services

Healthcare

Energy

Real Estate

Basic Materials

Consumer Defensive

Utilities