Students at the University of British Columbia can now sign up for a course on COVID-19. 

COVID-19 and Society will educate scholars about the impact of the global health crisis.

The new credit course is so popular that it has already been completely filled for the coming academic year. More than 270 students have signed up for the class, with 75 more on a waiting list.

The class will focus on how the pandemic affected people in society based on demographics such as age, race and gender.

"The course helps students make connections between their own experience of COVID-19 and larger social patterns occurring locally and globally," said course instructor and developer Katherine Lyon in a news release.

Guest speakers from different industries will join the class to share their own experiences of the pandemic. 

The course will also examine how the pandemic impacted social institutions such as the economy and the legal system.

"A theme underlying the entire course is social change," added Lyon.

"How people and societies respond to sweeping and unexpected social change and how individuals and groups can seek to make a meaningful change for the future in light of what we have learned from this pandemic."

At the end of the course, students will be required to complete a final project which will see them develop a strategy to inform the public about COVID-19.