How Often Are Wegovy Injections Given — and What Does the Schedule Look Like?

Step 1, Setting your injection day (and why consistency matters)

The first practical decision is picking a day of the week and sticking to it. Sunday evening, Tuesday morning, Friday lunchtime, the specific day is less important than keeping it regular. Semaglutide has a half-life of roughly one week, so spacing injections evenly maintains a steady level in your system. If your circumstances mean you need to shift the day occasionally, doses can be taken up to two days earlier or later in a given week, but check your Patient Information Leaflet before doing so.

A quick checking habit that takes under a minute: set a recurring weekly phone reminder the moment you agree your injection day with your prescriber. A single alarm saves far more mental overhead than trying to remember each week from scratch.

The full Wegovy treatment overview on the nume site explains what to expect across the early weeks, which is useful context before you inject for the first time.

Step 2, Moving through the dose levels

Wegovy treatment does not start at the full maintenance dose. The licensed UK titration path runs: 0.25 mg for the first four weeks, then 0.5 mg, then 1.0 mg, then 1.7 mg, and finally 2.4 mg, each step around four weeks apart. The pace is deliberate. Starting low gives the body time to adjust, and most of the gastrointestinal side effects that people notice (nausea, loose stools, reflux) are at their most noticeable in the first days after a dose increase, then usually ease.

Your prescriber decides when to advance. If a dose level is causing difficult side effects, they may hold you at the current level for an extra four weeks rather than pushing ahead. That is a clinical call, not a failure.

For readers also wondering about the injectable semaglutide that treats type 2 diabetes, Ozempic uses the same active ingredient but carries a different licence and is not prescribed for weight management. The two are not interchangeable from a prescribing perspective.

Step 3, Reaching and staying at your maintenance dose

For most people, 2.4 mg is the maintenance target. Once you are there, the injection frequency stays the same: once a week, every week, on your chosen day. There is no change in rhythm at maintenance, just a change in what is inside the pen.

The MHRA approved a higher 7.2 mg maintenance dose in early 2026, initially supplied as three 2.4 mg pens per week and later as a dedicated single-dose pen (approved 14 April 2026) for adults with a BMI of 30 or above. The once-weekly frequency still applies to that pen format. Whether 7.2 mg becomes part of your plan is a prescriber decision based on your progress and clinical picture, not something to request purely because a higher dose exists. Details on what is currently available are confirmed at consultation, as specific pen formats and dose availability vary.

Thinking about cost across the titration period is reasonable at this point. The treatment page sets out what is included in the price (consultation, prescription, and delivery) so you can compare like for like rather than just headline figures.

Step 4, What happens if a dose is delayed or a pen has a problem

Life happens. If a weekly injection is delayed by five days or fewer, take it as soon as you remember and resume your usual day the following week. Beyond five days, the standard advice is to skip that dose and continue on schedule, but always defer to the specific instruction in your Patient Information Leaflet, as clinical guidance is the authority here, not general summaries.

If a pen malfunctions, do not attempt a second injection with the same pen. A faulty device needs to be reported and replaced rather than improvised around. The guide to what to do with a broken Wegovy pen covers the steps clearly. Suspected manufacturing defects can also be reported to the MHRA via the Yellow Card scheme, a route that applies to any unexpected problem with the medicine or device.

On injection day itself, rotating your injection site (abdomen, thigh, or upper arm) between doses reduces the chance of localised skin reactions. If you are unsure about timing, our page on how often to do your Wegovy injection explains the schedule in plain terms. Alcohol swabs are a straightforward way to clean the site beforehand. After injecting, your used pen goes into a sharps container, not a household bin. Disposal rules for medical sharps exist for good reason.

Questions that go beyond scheduling (what to do if you feel unwell after injecting, whether semaglutide interacts with your current medicines) are best directed to your prescriber rather than answered on a general information page. For a fuller breakdown of the dosing rhythm, the guide on how often you inject Wegovy walks through the weekly schedule and what to do if your routine is disrupted. Our clinical team reviews every consultation in person, and aftercare support is available seven days a week once you are on treatment.