Semaglutide dosage chart: Ozempic and Wegovy dose steps
For planning and record-keeping only — not medical advice. Your dose and schedule are set by your prescriber.
Updated Aug 18, 2026
Weekly semaglutide follows one of two approved ladders. Ozempic runs 0.25 → 0.5 → 1 → 2 mg; Wegovy runs 0.25 → 0.5 → 1 → 1.7 → 2.4 mg. Both labels set a minimum of four weeks on every step. Below is each step with its role, every presentation the two brands now ship, and where the calendar dates behind them come from.
Ozempic dosage chart#
Ozempic is semaglutide injection, FDA-approved in 2017 for type 2 diabetes and given once a week. Its ladder has four rungs, and the 0.25 mg rung exists to begin treatment rather than to stay on. Source: the FDA Ozempic prescribing information (checked 2026-08-18).
| Step | Dose | Minimum time on step | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.25 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Initiation dosage — the label’s maintenance dosages start at 0.5 mg |
| 2 | 0.5 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Maintenance dosage |
| 3 | 1 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Maintenance dosage |
| 4 | 2 mg once weekly | Ongoing | Maintenance dosage and maximum recommended dosage |
Three of the four rungs are dosages the label names as maintenance, which is why an Ozempic chart is shorter than it looks: after the first four weeks, 0.5 mg is already a destination, not a waypoint.
Wegovy dosage chart#
Wegovy is the same molecule approved in 2021 for chronic weight management, and its escalation schedule is the longest in the semaglutide family: five steps, four weeks each, so the 2.4 mg maintenance dosage arrives after 16 weeks at the earliest. Source: the FDA Wegovy prescribing information (checked 2026-08-18).
| Step | Dose | Minimum time on step | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.25 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Starting dosage — initiation, not maintenance |
| 2 | 0.5 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Escalation step |
| 3 | 1 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Escalation step |
| 4 | 1.7 mg once weekly | 4 weeks | Escalation step, and one of the two named maintenance dosages |
| 5 | 2.4 mg once weekly | Ongoing | Recommended maintenance dosage |
The 1.7 mg row is the one most charts leave out. For weight reduction in adults the label names the maintenance dosage as either 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg, with 2.4 mg recommended — which means a five-step ladder can honestly end on step four.
Above that schedule the label carries one further approved strength, added since the first version of this chart: Wegovy HD, 7.2 mg once weekly, which the label names as the maximum dosage for weight reduction in adults (checked 2026-08-18). It is not a sixth rung on the escalation table above, and this page does not say who it is for — that sits with the prescriber, along with every other question about moving between strengths.
Presentations behind each dose#
The same milligrams arrive in very different boxes, and both brands now ship more than one kind. Ozempic runs multi-dose dial-a-dose pens, where one pen covers several weeks, alongside single-dose prefilled syringes. Wegovy runs single-dose pens, single-dose syringes, and one multi-dose FlexTouch pen holding four 2.4 mg doses. Needles are included with both brands’ multi-dose pens, and both labels still say to use a new one for every injection. From the Ozempic label and Wegovy label (checked 2026-08-18).
| Product | Presentation | Strength | Doses it delivers | Needles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozempic | Single-patient-use pen | 2 mg / 3 mL (0.68 mg/mL) | 4 doses of 0.25 mg and 2 doses of 0.5 mg, or 4 doses of 0.5 mg | 6 NovoFine Plus 32G 4 mm included in the carton |
| Ozempic | Single-patient-use pen | 4 mg / 3 mL (1.34 mg/mL) | 4 doses of 1 mg | 4 NovoFine Plus 32G 4 mm included in the carton |
| Ozempic | Single-patient-use pen | 8 mg / 3 mL (2.68 mg/mL) | 4 doses of 2 mg | 4 NovoFine Plus 32G 4 mm included in the carton |
| Ozempic | Single-dose prefilled syringe | 0.25, 0.5 or 1 mg per 0.5 mL | One dose per syringe, 4 syringes per carton | Needle already on the syringe |
| Wegovy | Single-dose pen | 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.7, 2.4 mg, or 7.2 mg (Wegovy HD) | One dose per pen | Needle built in and covered, nothing to attach |
| Wegovy | Single-dose syringe | 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.7 or 2.4 mg | One dose per syringe, 4 syringes per carton | Integrated needle |
| Wegovy | Single-patient-use FlexTouch pen | 9.6 mg / 3 mL (3.2 mg/mL) | Four doses of 2.4 mg | NovoFine Plus 32G 4 mm included in the carton |
Which of those you were handed decides what a log has to hold. A multi-dose pen — the three Ozempic strengths and the Wegovy FlexTouch — needs doses remaining tracked inside it; a single-dose pen or syringe is one unit spent per injection and nothing left to count. The Ozempic tracker setup and Wegovy tracker setup pages cover each routine, and the semaglutide tracker page covers what both share.
Oral semaglutide is a separate chart#
Semaglutide is also sold as a daily tablet, now under two brand names with different strengths and different approved uses. Confusing a tablet strength with a weekly injection strength is the most common reading error on this page, because the numbers overlap and the rhythms do not.
| Oral product | Strengths | Frequency | Maintenance strength | Approved use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozempic tablets | 1.5, 4, 9 mg | Once daily | 9 mg is the highest labelled strength | Type 2 diabetes (per Novo Nordisk, checked 2026-08-18) |
| Wegovy tablets | 1.5, 4, 9, 25 mg | Once daily | 25 mg | Cardiovascular risk reduction and weight reduction in adults (Wegovy label, checked 2026-08-18) |
The Wegovy tablet has its own escalation schedule, counted in days rather than weeks, and its own maintenance strength at the top of it. A side-by-side of the two Wegovy forms lives on Wegovy pill vs injection.
| Days | Wegovy tablet dosage | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 through 30 | 1.5 mg once daily | Starting dosage |
| 31 through 60 | 4 mg once daily | Escalation step |
| 61 through 90 | 9 mg once daily | Escalation step |
| 91 and onward | 25 mg once daily | Maintenance dosage |
The Wegovy label also puts conditions on the swallow itself, which no injection chart has an equivalent for: the tablet is taken once daily on an empty stomach in the morning with water, up to 4 ounces, swallowed whole, and at least 30 minutes must pass before food, other drinks, or other oral medications (checked 2026-08-18).
Ozempic tablets replaced Rybelsus, which carried the same molecule at 3 mg, 7 mg, and 14 mg. Novo Nordisk retired the Rybelsus brand in the US during 2026 and moved oral semaglutide under the Ozempic name after a bioequivalence study — the reason the milligram numbers look lower for the same treatment. If you hold an older Rybelsus prescription, the strength that replaces it is a question for your prescriber or pharmacist, not something this chart decides.
The weekly ladders above and every tool on this site assume a weekly injection. None of it applies to a daily tablet under either brand name.
Compounded semaglutide: same milligrams, different measurement#
A compounded vial is prescribed in the same unit everyone else uses — milligrams — but there is no dial to turn. The dose is drawn into a syringe, so the number you actually read off is units, and units only mean something next to the concentration printed on the vial. The units calculator converts mg to syringe units at a given mg/mL, and the reconstitution calculator works out the concentration when a vial is mixed. Neither the ladder above nor any chart applies automatically to a compounded prescription: the schedule is whatever your prescriber wrote.
Where the dates come from#
A chart gives intervals, not dates. Turning “at least four weeks” into real calendar days needs one number this page does not have — your first injection date. The titration date planner takes that date and lists the earliest day each step above could begin. Those are boundaries; the dates your prescriber confirms are the ones worth reminders.
What a dosage chart cannot tell you#
The tables above show what is approved, not what is prescribed for you. Five honest limits are worth stating plainly. A chart cannot tell you when to move up a step: that decision rests on tolerability and response, and it belongs to your prescriber and nobody else. It cannot tell you what to do about an injection that did not happen on schedule, or about anything unusual in your dosing — that is a phone call to the practice, not a table lookup. It cannot rank products for you, because “which one suits me” depends on your indication, history, coverage, and clinical judgment.
The fourth limit has grown teeth since semaglutide became a tablet as well as an injection. One molecule now runs on two rhythms, weekly and daily, at strengths that look nothing alike — 2.4 mg a week beside 25 mg a day. The temptation to divide one into the other is understandable and the arithmetic is meaningless: no label publishes a conversion between the injection and the tablet, and neither does this page. Each form is listed here on its own terms, and that is where the listing stops. The fifth limit is the same rule across molecules: tirzepatide climbs its own ladder in its own increments, listed in the tirzepatide dosage chart, and no label publishes an equivalence between the two.
What a chart is genuinely good for is recognition — finding your dose, seeing where it sits, and knowing what the label calls it. Keeping the record of which step started when is a separate job, handled by a GLP-1 shot tracker app or any notebook you will still be filling in at week sixteen.
KeepAlong — GLP-1 shot tracker & planning tools
The app is launching soon. The web tools on this site are free — no sign-up needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the maintenance dose of Wegovy?
The Wegovy label names 2.4 mg once weekly as the recommended maintenance dosage for weight reduction in adults, and keeps 1.7 mg once weekly as the other maintenance option. Above both sits Wegovy HD at 7.2 mg once weekly, which the label names as the maximum dosage rather than a routine step.
What are the Ozempic dose steps?
Ozempic steps through 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 mg once weekly, with a minimum of four weeks on each step. The label treats 0.25 mg as an initiation dosage and names 0.5, 1, and 2 mg as the maintenance dosages, with 2 mg the maximum recommended dosage.
How long does it take to reach 2.4 mg of semaglutide?
Counting the Wegovy label minimums, 16 weeks: four weeks each at 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 1.7 mg before a first 2.4 mg injection. That is the earliest boundary rather than a schedule — prescribers often hold a step longer, and the arithmetic says nothing about what yours will do.
Does everyone reach the highest semaglutide dose?
No. The Ozempic label names 0.5, 1, and 2 mg all as maintenance dosages, and the Wegovy label keeps 1.7 mg alongside 2.4 mg as maintenance. Where a ladder stops is a prescribing decision based on response and tolerability, not a target set by a chart.
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