WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A new weight loss option is now available for people seeking alternatives to weekly injections.<\/p>\n
The Wegovy pill became available on Monday<\/a>, offering the first oral option for a medication previously only available as a weekly injectable. The FDA approved plans for the pill late last month.<\/a><\/p>\n The medication is manufactured in Raleigh by Novo Nordisk, marking the start of a new era for weight loss treatment.<\/p>\n More accessible weight loss option<\/p>\n Before the pill\u2019s availability, people like Shakira Highsmith only had the choice of using weekly GLP-1 injectables to help lose weight.<\/p>\n \u201cI was scared. I know the very first time I took it, I took it out, and I was like, okay, you can do this,\u201d Highsmith said. \u201cI give myself a shot weekly, arm, leg or the stomach, but it wasn\u2019t bad and I am not a needle person, I hate needles. But it was comfortable enough to where I was okay to do it on my own at home.\u201d<\/p>\n Highsmith, a mother of four, has lost 60 pounds since April after starting the Wegovy injectable.<\/p>\n \u201cI was prediabetic, and I had high cholesterol before I got on it,\u201d she said. \u201cNo longer am I prediabetic with high cholesterol, I am happy about that because I want to live long for my kids. I just feel happy that I finally lost the weight I had been trying to lose for years.\u201d<\/p>\n Pricing and availability<\/p>\n Novo Nordisk says the medicine is now available at 70,000 pharmacies. For people without insurance coverage, the pill costs $149 per month. With insurance, prices are $25 per month.<\/p>\n While Highsmith says the pill seems like a great option, she plans to stick with the weekly injectable for practical reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cI would forget to take the pill every day, and I feel like when you are taking something like that, you have to be on a routine like 7 a.m. every morning,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is what I like about the shot, take it once a week and you don\u2019t have to worry about it until the following week.\u201d<\/p>\n Encouraging others<\/p>\n Despite her preference for injections, Highsmith encourages others to consider GLP-1 medications.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are thinking about getting on a GLP-1, don\u2019t let fear stop you,\u201d she said. \u201cGet on it, it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n The symptoms of the injectable and pill versions are similar. Some local pharmacies say they are still waiting for shipments of the new pill to arrive.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WECT. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A new weight loss option is now available for people seeking alternatives to weekly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":497612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[223651,223650,210,1060,9412,67,132,68,41817,223649,19295],"class_list":{"0":"post-497611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-fda-approved-weight-loss-medication","9":"tag-glp-1-weight-loss","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication","12":"tag-novo-nordisk","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-wect","17":"tag-wegovy-pill","18":"tag-wilmington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115850804320943422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}