Can the quasi-molecular mechanism of recombination decrease the Hubble
  tension?
  In the recently suggested non-standard, quasi-molecular mechanism of
recombination, the presence of neighboring proton increases the ionization
energy and decreases the final recombination rate of hydrogen. Both these two
effects can lead to the larger value of the present expansion rate of the
universe obtained using CMB data and standard cosmological model, and thus are
able to reduce or resolve the Hubble tension problem. We note also that due to
the quasi-molecular channel the recombination began earlier, what potentially
can solve the sigma-eight tension, since the CMB-predicted value of the late
matter density will be decreased.
