WEGOVY doses
The injection starts at 0.25 mg once a week and steps up every four weeks through 0.5, 1 and 1.7 mg. From week 17 you are on a maintenance dose, and which one that is depends on what the prescription was written for.1
On this page
The injection ladder
The label gives one starting dosage and one escalation table for every approved use of the injection, in adults and in patients aged 12 and older. It is the same climb whatever the prescription is for.1
| Stage | Weeks | Dosage |
|---|---|---|
| Starting dosage | 1 through 4 | 0.25 mg |
| Escalation | 5 through 8 | 0.5 mg |
| Escalation | 9 through 12 | 1 mg |
| Escalation | 13 through 16 | 1.7 mg |
| Maintenance | 17 and onward | Depends on the approved use (below) |
WEGOVY prescribing information, Table 1, section 2.2 (label revised 6/2026), read September 2026. It is listed in full under Sources.
Sixteen weeks is nearly four months, and the reason for taking that long is printed beside the table: the escalation exists to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal adverse reactions. How often those turned up, and against what placebo rate, is on the WEGOVY side effects page.1
Maintenance depends on what it was prescribed for
This is the part a dose chart usually flattens. WEGOVY has four approved uses and the label writes a maintenance dosage for each one separately.
| Approved use | Maintenance dosage |
|---|---|
| Cardiovascular risk reduction in adults | 2.4 mg (recommended) or 1.7 mg once weekly |
| Weight reduction in adults | 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg (recommended), and it may be increased to a maximum of 7.2 mg once weekly |
| Weight reduction from age 12 | 2.4 mg (recommended) or 1.7 mg once weekly |
| Noncirrhotic MASH with F2 to F3 fibrosis in adults | 2.4 mg once weekly, decreased to 1.7 mg if 2.4 mg is not tolerated |
WEGOVY prescribing information, section 2.2, under “Recommended Maintenance Dosage of WEGOVY Injection for All Approved Indications” (label revised 6/2026), read September 2026.
The 7.2 mg row has conditions on it that the number alone does not carry. The label allows it only for weight reduction in adults, only after a patient has tolerated 2.4 mg for at least four weeks, and only where additional weight reduction is clinically indicated. It is not a fifth rung everyone climbs.1
On the MASH row the label adds something the others do not have: if the dosage is decreased to 1.7 mg because 2.4 mg was not tolerated, it says to consider re-escalation to 2.4 mg. Whether a person can settle at 1.7 mg instead is the subject of the page on staying at a low dose, which reports what 1.7 mg measured against 2.4 mg in the label’s own trial.1
If a step is too much
The label writes one instruction for this, and it is worth knowing before the week it applies:
If patients do not tolerate a dose during dosage escalation, consider delaying dosage escalation for 4 weeks.
Delaying is not the same as stopping, and it is not the same as dropping back. Four more weeks at the dose you are already on is the label’s own move, and it is the prescriber’s to make. Missing doses is a different situation with different instructions, and the missed-dose page quotes all three products’ wording in full. Our SELECT trial explanation also shows why the prescribed indication and studied population belong beside a dose comparison.
The tablets run on a different clock
WEGOVY tablets are taken by mouth once a day, and their ladder is measured in days rather than weeks. Four steps, 30 days each, and a maintenance dosage well above the number people expect after reading the injection column.1
| Stage | Days | Dosage |
|---|---|---|
| Starting dosage | 1 through 30 | 1.5 mg |
| Escalation | 31 through 60 | 4 mg |
| Escalation | 61 through 90 | 9 mg |
| Maintenance | 91 and onward | 25 mg |
WEGOVY prescribing information, Table 2, section 2.3 (label revised 6/2026), read September 2026.
What each tablet strength costs is on the WEGOVY pill page, and what the pen costs is on the WEGOVY price page.
Questions
What are the WEGOVY doses in order?
For the injection: 0.25 mg in weeks 1 to 4, 0.5 mg in weeks 5 to 8, 1 mg in weeks 9 to 12, 1.7 mg in weeks 13 to 16, then a maintenance dosage from week 17. For the tablets: 1.5 mg for days 1 to 30, 4 mg for days 31 to 60, 9 mg for days 61 to 90, then 25 mg from day 91.
Is 2.4 mg the highest WEGOVY dose?
Not quite. For weight reduction in adults the label allows an increase to a maximum of 7.2 mg once weekly, after a patient has tolerated 2.4 mg for at least four weeks and where additional weight reduction is clinically indicated. For the other three approved uses, 2.4 mg is the top of the ladder.
How long before I reach the maintenance dose?
Sixteen weeks on the label’s schedule, with the maintenance dosage starting in week 17. A delayed step adds four weeks to that, and the label says to consider delaying escalation by four weeks when a patient does not tolerate a dose.
Read next
Sources
A reference, not medical advice, and not a substitute for your prescriber or pharmacist. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call your local emergency number.