Given that there are 330,000,000 Americans, 1 in 500 means a total of 660,000 deaths.
We're already far beyond that, and not everyone has gotten Covid yet.
First of all, you have to break that down by age.
For example, with the current 800,000 deaths, fewer than 500 are under 18.
If we were to deliberately infect enough volunteers under 40, we could have ended the epidemic in a month, with fewer than 60k deaths.
That is because those under 40 have 400 times less chance of dying than the average, because the average is mostly from deaths over 70.
Herd immunity is useful because it works early on, stopping the ability of an epidemic to spread, by eliminating local hosts by giving them immunity.
Once you have "flattened the curve" for 2 years, you have allowed it to spread so wide and deep, that herd immunity requires almost twice as many to get infected and recover.
But if the vaccines really worked, then we would already have herd immunity.
Most countries are around 70% of either vaccination or recovery.
So why it is still rampaging?
Because the vaccines are fake and only temporarily stimulate antibody production.
They wear off after 6 months.
So then the only real immunity out there is from those who recovered.