The invention discloses a vertical shaft shield construction method and a vertical shaft shield machine. According to the invention, a plurality of boreholes running through a segment of an existing tunnel at an initial end and a stratum where a to-be-constructed vertical shaft is positioned are drilled at the initial end of the existing tunnel, which corresponds to the to-be-constructed verticalshaft, by circumferential distribution of drill pipes so as to insert steel cables; a traction mechanism is arranged at a receiving end on the ground, which corresponds to an outlet of the to-be-constructed vertical shaft; both ends of a plurality of steel cables are respectively connected with a shield shell of the shield machine at the initial end and the traction mechanism at the receiving end,so that the traction mechanism can pull the shield machine to advance forwards by the steel cables, in a case that the shield machine does not suspend advancing, segment rings can be sequentially spliced and the shield shell can be prolonged until advancing construction of the vertical shaft is completed, and the prolonged shield shell and the vertical shaft segment rings, which respectively extend to the receiving end from the initial end, are formed, so that construction time can be greatly shortened, construction efficiency is improved, construction cost is reduced, disturbance to the stratum is reduced, and construction risks of earth surface excessive sedimentation, excavated surface collapse and the like are prevented.